THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST 


WILLIAM  -  ELLIOT-  GRIFF!  S 


. 


|H — n__n__ 


REESE  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
JfoaSytA,        fe-  Jr/00 

vn  No.  yQ     / 


THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST 


BOOKS  BY   WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  DISCOVERY :  A  THOUSAND  YEARS 
OF  EXPLORATION  AND  THE  UNVEILING  OF  CONTI 
NENTS.  305  pages.  With  five  full-page  Illustrations  by 
FRANK  T.  MERRILL.  Cloth,  gilt  top.  12010.  $1.50. 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION :  How 

THE  FOUNDATION  STONES  OF  OUR  HISTORY  WERE 
LAID.  295  pages.  With  five  full-page  Illustrations  by 
FRANK  T.  MERRILL.  Cloth,  gilt  top.  i2mo.  $1.50. 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST:  THE  STORY  OF 
AMERICAN  EXPANSION  THROUGH  ARMS  AND  DIPLO 
MACY.  316  pages.  With  five  full-page  Illustrations  by 
FRANK  T.  MERRILL.  Cloth,  gilt  top.  i2mo.  $1.50. 


THE    CONTINENTAL    SOLDIER. 


THE 

ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST 

THE  STORY  OF  AMERICAN  EXPANSION 
THROUGH  ARMS  AND   DIPLOMACY 


BY 


WILLIAM    ELLIOT    GRIFFIS 

ii 

MEMBER  OF  THE   AMERICAN    HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION 

AUTHOR  OF  "BRAVE   LITTLE   HOLLAND, rHE   PILGRIMS   IN   THEIR 

THREE   HOMES,"   "THE   ROMANCE  OF  DISCOVERY,"   "THE 
ROMANCE  OF  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION,"   ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 

FRANK   T.   MERRILL 


OF   THK 

UNIVERSITY 


BOSTON  AND  CHICAGO 
W.   A.   WILDE   COMPANY 


06 


COPYRIGHT,  1899, 

BY  W.  A.  WILDE  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


THE   ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 


tn 
MY    COMRADES 

IN  THE  FORTY-FOURTH  PENNSYLVANIA  VOLUNTEERS 
(MERCHANTS'  REGIMENT  OF  PHILADELPHIA) 

WHO  HAD  AND  WHO  HAVE 
FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  THEIR  COUNTRY 


PREFACE. 

When  the  "  Free  Quakers "  of  Philadelphia  inscribed 
on  their  new  meeting-house  "  Erected  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  1783,  of  the  Empire  8,"  they  were  not  "  Jingos  "  or 
"  imperialists,"  but  believers  in  God  and  in  the  growth  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  Among  these  Friends, 
who  had  drawn  sword  for  their  country,  were  my  ancestors 
and  kinsmen.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  their  descendant 
inherits  also  their  view. 

To-day  there  are  those  who  read  the  words  "empire" 
and  " expansion"  in  the  same  light.  They  see  in  the 
events  of  the  pivotal  year  of  1898  the  Divine  hand,  and 
they  hear  in  the  new  developments  fresh  calls  to  duty. 
On  history  is  based  surest  prophecy.  Those  who  are 
most  familiar  with  the  story  of  our  country  will  be  best 
fitted  to  comprehend  intelligently  the  part  they  are  called 
upon  to  play  in  the  future. 

With  emphasis  upon  the  original  meaning  of  the  word 
"conquest,"  I  have  in  this  volume  told  the  story  of  our 
national  expansion  and  of  the  triumphs  of  American  arms 
and  diplomacy  from  July  4,  1/76,  when  we  began  to  be  a 
corporate  nation  or  empire,  until  this  first  year  of  Greater 

America. 

7 


8  PREFACE. 

Expansion,  either  of  ideas  or  of  territory,  is  no  new 
thing  to  Americans.  The  Northwest  Territory,  the  Lou 
isiana  Purchase,  the  acquisitions  of  Florida,  Texas,  Ore 
gon,  California,  the  Gadsden  Purchase,  and  Alaska  were 
but  the  preludes  to  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  and  of  island 
territory  in  the  Indies,  both  East  and  West. 

The  story  is  one  without  partisanship.  Those  who 
built  the  Greater  America  were  not  Federalists  or  Whigs, 
Democrats  or  Republicans,  but  patriots.  The  brave  sol 
diers  who  defended  the  flag  in  the  field,  the  sailors  who 
bore  it  in  peace  or  war  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the 
diplomatists  abroad  or  the  statesmen  at  home,  were  of  all 
parties.  In  forming  'our  national  policy  they  represented 
no  section,  but  the  nation  only.  To  do  justice  to  all  the 
makers  of  Greater  America,  of  every  race  and  color,  has 
been  my  aim.  If  in  this  work  I  have  given  more  promi 
nence  to  the  navy  than  the  average  historical  writer,  it  is 
because  the  facts  require  it.  Indeed,  it  is  only  now  that 
our  people  seem  waking  up  to  the  full  importance  of  our 
marine  and  its  influence  upon  the  development  of  the 
greatest,  as  it  will  be,  we  trust,  the  best,  nation  on  earth. 

w.  E.  G. 

ITHACA,  N.Y., 

April,  1899. 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  WESTWARD  THE  COURSE  OF  EMPIRE          ...       13 

II.  FROM  LEXINGTON  TO  STILLWATER      ....      22 

III.  THE  NAVY  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR          .        .31 

IV.  FROM  SARATOGA  TO  YORKTOWN  39 
V.  THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN    .      47 

VI.  FROM  CONFEDERATION  TO  CONSTITUTION   .        .        -57 

VII.  THE  MOVEMENT  BEYOND  THE  ALLEGHANIES       .        „      66 

VIII.  WAR  WITH  FRANCE  ON  THE  SEA        ....      76 

IX.  OUR  NAVY  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN  ....      86 

X.  DOUBLING  THE  NATIONAL  DOMAIN     ....      97 

XL  WHY  A  SECOND  WAR  FOR  FREEDOM  WAS  FOUGHT    .     104 

XII.  THE  NAVAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812          .        .        .        .113 

XIII.  OUR  FLAG  KEPT  FLYING  ON  LAKES  AND  SEAS  .        .120 

XIV.  "OLD  IRONSIDES"  AND  COTTON  BALES      .        .        .129 
XV.    MADISON  AND  MONROE 140 

XVI.  THE  SEMINOLE  AND  BLACK  HAWK  WARS          .        .149 

XVII.     OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE 162 

XVIII.  OLD  "ROUGH  AND  READY"  IN  MEXICO      .        .        .     175 

XIX.  THE  NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT  VERA  CRUZ       .         .        .189 

XX.  SCOTT'S  ADVANCE  TO  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO       .        .     200 

XXI.  THE  AMERICAN  SAILOR  IN  THE  FAR  EAST         .        .213 

9 


I0  TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGK 

XXII.  CONFEDERATES  AND  FEDERALS         .        .        .        .221 

XXIII.  THE  WAR  FOR  FREEDOM 233 

XXIV.  A  UNITED  COUNTRY          .  ...     244 
XXV.  AMERICAN  MARINES  AND  SAILORS  IN  KOREA  .        .251 

XXVI.  OUR  EXPANDING  EMPIRE  ON  THE  PACIFIC       .        .    263 

XXVII.    OUR  WAR  WITH  SPAIN 275 

XXVIII.  THE  AMERICAN  FLAG  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES      .        .    284 

XXIX.  SANTIAGO  AND  PORTO  Rico     .                         .        .    290 

XXX.  THE  GREATER  UNITED  STATES        .        .        .        .    299 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


The  Continental  Soldier  .  .  Frontispiece  23 
"Why  do  you  do  that?"  said  the  President  .  .61 
The  Battle  of  New  Orleans  .  •  T36 
Captain  May's  Charge  at  Resaca  de  la  Palma  .  i78 
March  to  the  Sea  24' 


1 1 


UNIVERS 

CALIF 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

CHAPTER    I. 

WESTWARD    THE    COURSE    OF    EMPIRE. 

DETWEEN  the  ideas  of  discovery  and  conquest 
L-J  there  is  a  close  connection,  for  most  nations 
that  have  made  discoveries  proceeded  to  conquer 
and  subdue  the  new-found  lands.  Yet  not  all 
nations  succeed  in  planting  colonies.  The  Spanish, 
French,  and  Portuguese  failed.  As  Powers,  they 
have  passed  out  of  America.  The  two  modern 
peoples  who  have  best  succeeded  are  the  English 
and  the  Dutch.  These  now  lead  the  way  with 
precedents  and  experience.  The  people  that  are 
now  leaving  the  limits  of  their  continent  and  enter 
ing  upon  this  part  of  the  world's  work,  in  both  the 
Indies,  are  the  Americans. 

Although  their  own  first  home  land  was  only  the 
Atlantic  coast  strip  between  the  ocean  and  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  yet  they  have  won  by  discovery,  coloniza 
tion,  arms,  or  diplomacy  the  whole  region  bounded 

13 


14  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

by  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  and  the  northern 
lakes  and  the  Gulf;  the  vast  territory  of  Alaska, 
inland  and  insular ;  and  large  possessions  in  the 
East  and  the  West  Indies.  The  United  States  of 
America  have  become,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word, 
a  World  Power,  and,  in  a  double  sense,  "the  great 
Pacific  Power." 

The  expansive  movement  of  human  history  was 
first  from  Mesopotamia  to  the  Mediterranean,  then 
to  the  Atlantic,  then  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  it  is 
still  onward.  The  Far  East  has  become  the  Near 
West. 

There  have  been  many  kinds  of  conquest,  some 
by  deliberate  plan  long  before  thought  out,  and 
again  by  sudden  action  on  account  of  necessity. 
Some  were  in  righteousness ;  others  in  wrong  and 
cruelty.  In  this  book  we  shall  write  the  romance 
of  American  conquest,  which  began  in  colonial  days. 
Though  at  times  marked  with  wrong  and  injustice, 
as  all  human  history  is,  in  the  main  it  is  a  story  of 
honorable  acquisition. 

What  is  a  conqueror,  and  what  is  conquest  ? 
One  thinks  of  the  word,  which  sounds  so  grand  in 
poetry,  as  in  Mrs.  Hemans's  verse:  — 

"  Bring  flowers  to  strew  in  the  conqueror's  path, 
He  hath  shaken  thrones  with  his  stormy  wrath ; 
The  turf  looked  red  where  he  won  the  day. 
Bring  flowers  to  strew  in  the  conqueror's  way." 


WESTWARD  THE  COURSE  OF  EMPIRE.  15 

With  conquest  we  associate  the  idea  of  subjuga 
tion.  Now  it  is  well  to  look  at  the  meaning  of 
words,  and  note  how  they  change.  Let  us  see  how 
the  term  "  conqueror  "  grew  into  its  present  shape. 

Back  in  the  old  Roman  days  the  treasurer,  com 
missary,  or  quartermaster  was  called  a  quaestor. 
To  this  day  the  treasurers  in  the  Dutch  churches 
in  Holland  and  America  are  called  quaestors. 
Then  a  con-quaestor,  or  conquisitor,  was  a  man  who 
searched  for,  and  procured,  brought  together  and 
collected,  money,  men,  or  supplies.  In  other  words, 
he  was  a  recruiting  officer.  Out  of  this  old  Latin 
mother-word  came  ours.  So  also  a  "conqueror"  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  even  when  applied  to  William  of 
Normandy,  did  not  mean  one  who  unlawfully  seized 
land  or  possessions  or  subjugated  a  nation,  but 
rather  one  who  purchased  or  acquired  territory. 
In  old  feudal  law  "conquest"  meant  the  acquisition 
of  property  by  other  means  than  by  inheritance. 
In  Scotch  law  "  conquest "  still  refers  to  property 
acquired  by  purchase,  or  gift,  or  by  marriage 
x  •  contract. 

American  conquest  has  never  meant  forcible 
seizure  or  cruel  treatment.  In  old  days  when  the 
Roman  armies  won  victory  over  their  enemies  they 
subjugated  them.  This  means  that  they  put  them 
under  the  yoke,  like  beasts  of  burden.  When  the 
people  were  too  many  to  place  a  literal  yoke  on 


i6  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

their  necks,  two  spears  were  set  into  the  ground 
and  to  these  uprights  a  third  spear  was  held  or  tied 
crosswise.  Then  all  the  defeated,  men,  women,  and 
children,  had  to  bow  their  heads  and  pass  under 
in  token  of  submission.  In  the  ancient  days  con 
quest  was  often  accompanied  witl^  cruelty,  torture, 
and  mutilation.  Thousands  were  torn  from  their 
homes  and  settled  as  colonies  of  prisoners  in  other 
lands.  One  has  only  to  look  at  the  Assyrian  sculp 
tures  to  see  how  captives  had  their  eyes  put  out 
or  their  limbs  chopped  off,  or  were  driven  in  chains 
like  wild  beasts  to  hard  labor  and  slavery.  In 
Rome,  war-captives  were  used  as  prey  for  the  lions 
in  the  arena,  or  as  gladiators  who  fought  and  killed 
each  other  to  amuse  the  crowd  on  a  holiday. 

No    such    story  is   that    of   American    conquest. 
First  of  all,  we  must  have  righteousness  on  our  side. 
"  Then  conquer  we  must 
When  our  cause  it  is  just," 

is  in  our  national  song.  Ours  is  indeed  a  brilliant 
record  of  conquest  through  valor  and  diplomacy, 
but  unaccompanied  by  the  atrocities  of  ancient 
or  mediaeval  warfare.  Furthermore,  the  American 
idea  of  conquest  means  moral  responsibility,  gifts  to 
the  conquered  of  the  best  that  the  conquerors  can 
bestow,  the  blessings  of  peace,  plenty,  equal  rights, 
just  laws,  education,  and  such  participation  in  social 
and  political  rights  as  may  be  possible. 


WESTWARD    THE  COURSE    OF  EMPIRE.  IJ 

In  reality,  ours  has  always  been  a  discovering, 
a  colonizing,  and  a  conquering  nation  from  the 
moment  of  its  birth.  Our  fathers  had  first  to  gain 
their  own  freedom  and  then  to  defend  not  only  their 
own  frontiers,  but  to  send  out  expeditions  beyond, 
to  win  their  way  against  hostile  Indians,  or  against 
other  claimants  of  land  which  the  States  considered 
their  own.  In  reality,  we  bought  our  way,  paying 
for  what  we  got.  France,  Spain,  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Mexico,  were  all  given  money,  or  a  full 
equivalent,  for  what  we  got  from  them. 

The  United  States  also  sent  out  exploring  expe 
ditions  to  find  new  lands,  to  unveil  coast  lines,  and 
make  the  world  better  known  to  its  inhabitants. 
Liberia  was  established  in  Africa.  Commodore 
Wilkes  revealed  to  the  nations  an  Antarctic  conti 
nent.  Our  brave  sailors  have  gone  near  to  the  north 
pole.  In  many  Asiatic  and  African  countries  and 
in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  American  missionaries 
and  teachers  went  out  in  numbers  exceeding  those 
of  regiments.  These,  as  well  as  our  merchants 
and  mariners,  have  carried  the  name  and  fame  of 
America  abroad.  Nothing  can  restrain  the  pushing 
ardor  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  who  believes  that  God 
formed  the  earth  to  be  inhabited. 

After  the  Civil  War  and  consolidation,  peace  came, 
a  double  duty  was  put  upon  the  nation  of  first  paci 
fying  and  then  educating  the  redmen,  and  of  raising^! 


1 8  'THE   ROMANCE    OF   CONQUEST. 

up  the  black  citizens  to  the  appreciation  of  their 
rights.  With  all  our  faults  and  shortcomings  as  a 
nation,  we  have  honestly  striven  to  do  this. 

The  spirit  of  American  conquest  —  using  the 
word  in  the  old  meaning  —  was  incarnated  in 
George  Washington.  He  was,  in  a  twofold  sense,  a 
surveyor  of  land  and  of  nations.  Washington,  the 
engineer  and  statesman,  educated  mainly  outdoors 
and  among  men,  was  far-sighted  enough  to  see  that 
on  this  continent  the  old  Latin  ideas  were  to  give 
way  before  Anglo-Saxon  ideas  and  institutions.  As 
a  true  Englishman  and  Virginian,  he  was  glad  to 
lead  a  company  into  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  to 
dispute  the  claims  of  the  French,  which  he  believed 
were  not  righteously  founded. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  Indians 
became  hostile  foreigners,  Washington  despatched 
General  Sullivan  into  what  was  then,  1779,  "the 
Far  West "  of  New  York,  to  assert  American  claims 
against  the  Six  Iroquois  Nations.  During  his  presi 
dency,  he  sent  Generals  St.  Clair  and  Wayne  to 
maintain  our  rights  against  the  British  and  red- 
men  in  the  Northwest.  He  himself  personally 
visited  the  waterways  and  roads  of  western  New 
York  and  Virginia,  paying  great  attention  to  the 
opening  and  development  of  the  West.  He  quickly 
discriminated  between  Anglo-Saxon  ideas,  repre 
sented  by  Great  Britain,  even  when  her  king  was 


WESTWARD    THE    COURSE    OF  EMPIRE.  19 

foolish  and  hot-headecl  and  Parliament  was  wrong, 
as  against  the  French,  who,  like  the  Spanish,  Portu 
guese,  and  Italians,  represented  Latin  notions,  which 
were  behind  the  age,  and  therefore  unworkable  in 
the  New  World.  He  taught  "  Citizen  Genet  "  and 
the  world  a  lesson,  while  also  showing  Americans 
that  they  must  be  neither  French  nor  English,  but 
throw  off  the  colonial  spirit  of  dependence  and 
become  American. 

Then,  as  his  latest  and  best  gift  to  the  American 
people  he  issued  his  farewell  address,  now  a  classic. 
In  this  he  pointed  out  that  the  interests  of  Europe 
or  the  Mediterranean  nations  were  not  ours,  and 
that  we  had  problems  of  our  own.  We  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  their  scheme  of  "  the  balance  of 
power,"  on  which  modern  European  politics  are 
founded.  He  warned  us  not  to  enter  into  any  en 
tangling  alliances,  to  avoid  and  keep  out  of  all 
schemes  of  conquest  and  territorial  aggrandize 
ment,  —  at  least  until  both  the  country  and  its  in 
stitutions  were  thoroughly  consolidated  and  matured. 
His  great  idea  was  to  see  his  country  free  from  polit 
ical  connection  with  every  other  country,  indepen 
dent  of  all,  and  under  the  influence  of  none.  He 
was,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  a  great  and 
true  American.  He  liked  Americanism,  without 
any  hyphens. 

Wisely  have  our  people  and  statesmen    heeded 


20  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

his  words.  Even  in  1898,  that  wonderful  year  full 
of  events  which  have  turned  the  world  inside  out 
and  shifted  history  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
the  American  people  did  not  and  will  not  depart 
from  the  true  idea  of  Washington,  even  though 
they  extend  their  domain  and  set  up  democratic 
institutions  in  the  Pacific. 

The  American  is  by  true  inheritance  a  soldier, 
but  a  soldier  of  righteousness.  The  Puritans,  first 
in  Holland  and  then  in  Britain,  believed  in  necessary 
war  as  an  instrument  of  divine  justice,  Colonists 
from  many  countries  in  Europe  and  representatives 
of  various  races  came  to  these  shores  and  have  been 
fused  into  one  grand  American  composite.  Yet 
those  who  laid  the  foundations,  planned  the  struc 
ture,  and  formed  the  ideas  under  which  our  nation 
has  grown,  were  men  who  asserted  the  principle  of 
personal  freedom.  They  read  the  open  Bible  and 
interpreted  it  for  themselves.  They  believed  in  the 
right  to  punish  or  depose  their  rulers  when  these 
were  not  faithful  Like  Cromwell  and  the  British 
people,  they  believed  in  strong  nations  helping  the 
weak  and  oppressed  peoples.  They  held  to  the 
Hebrew  and  Puritan  principle  that  war  might  be 
employed  as  the  instrument  of  God  for  justice  and 
righteousness.  ^  Washington's  maxim  was  "  In  time 
of  peace  prepare  for  war?] 

Furthermore,  they  believed  in  asserting  true  man- 


WESTWARD    THE    COURSE    OF  EMPIRE.  21 

liness.  They  would  not  allow  the  bully  to  rage,  or 
the  tyrant  in  church  or  state  to  have  his  own  way. 
Without  virility  and  personal  courage,  they  consid 
ered  all  other  gifts  and  graces  vain.  So  from  Mas 
sachusetts  to  Georgia,  Puritan,  Hollander,  Cavalier, 
Huguenot,  and  all  believers  in  good  government,  liv 
ing  as  they  did  betwixt  the  ocean  and  the  Indian, 
between  the  land  forces  and  the  fleets  of  hostile 
Europeans,  were  bred  to  the  use  of  arms.  They 
had  before  them  the  example  of  the  great  mother 
land,  of  whom  Shakespeare  says  :  — 

"  This  England  never  did  and  never  shall 
Lie  at  the  proud  foot  of  a  conqueror 
But  when  it  first  did  help  to  wound  itself." 

But,  when  Thomas  Dekker  wrote  the  lines  in  "  Old 
Fortunatus," 

"  And  though  mine  arm  should  conquer  twenty  worlds, 
There's  a  lean  fellow  beats  all  conquerors," 

did  he  have  in  his  mind's  eye  the  long  and  lank 
figure,  whom  Europe  has  so  often  caricatured  as 
tall,  strong,  and  wiry,  without  rotundity,  but  not 
lacking  avoirdupois,  "  Uncle  Sam  "  ? 


CHAPTER    II. 

FROM    LEXINGTON    TO    STILLWATER. 

THE  American  colonial  soldier  was  a  young  man 
from  the  farmhouse  or  the  town  dwelling.  In 
politics,  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  he 
was  a  loyal  Englishman,  standing  on  his  rights  as 
English  law  had  defined  them.  If  at  Lexington  the 
Minuteman  had  to  fight  the  king's  troops,  who  first 
fired  on  him,  he  went  the  next  day  and  took  affi 
davit  that  he  was  a  law-abiding  citizen,  defending 
himself  against  the  lawless  military  that  had  inter 
fered  with  his  rights  on  the  king's  highway.  The 
Continental  soldier  resisted  revolution  from  without. 
He  took  this  name,  because  he  was  more  and  more 
interested  in  what  all  the  colonies  did  in  union,  and 
less  in  what  the  king's  ministers  were  pleased  to 
dictate.  Devout  though  he  was,  he  had  a  new  idea, 
or  rather  an  old  one,  which  was  always  latent 
in  the  Hebrew  commonwealth  and  the  Christian 
church  before  Latin  domination  and  absolutism 
grew  up.  It  was  the  idea  of  a  state  without  a 
king  and  a  church  free  from  politics.  He  even 
believed  in  good  coinage  without  the  use  of  the 
divine  name. 

22 


FROM  LEXINGTON   TO   STILL  WATER.  23 

In  his  state  militia  regiment,  the  soldier  of  '76 
was  usually  a  hero  in  homespun,  without  much  idea 
of  uniform.  Only  slowly  did  he  come  into  rigid 
discipline,  and  that  for  the  sake  of  the  cause.  The 
musket  used  by  him  in  the  national  warfare  was 
more  apt  to  be  his  own  gun,  which  had  hung  on 
pegs  over  the  fireplace,  with  which  he  had  shot 
birds,  squirrels,  deer,  and  bears.  His  home,  by  the 
Delaware  or  the  Merrimac,  was  a  plain  building 
of  logs  or  timber,  with  a  well-sweep  and  woodpile 
outside,  and  indoors  an  open  fireplace  furnished 
with  iron  pothooks  and  andirons,  with  a  living 
room  in  which  were  wooden  settle  and  chairs. 
Over  the  mantelpiece  stood  candlesticks  and  a 
few  books,  which  were  pretty  apt  to  be  of  solid 
character.  Above,  on  the  wall,  or  set  on  deer 
horns,  was  his  firelock,  which,  with  his  trusty  axe, 
was  his  familiar  tool. 

When  the  Continental  army  of  regulars  was 
formed,  the  men  wore  buff  and  blue,  cloth  of  the 
latter  and  trimmings  of  the  former,  with  top-boots, 
knickerbockers,  and  woollen  stockings.  Metal  but 
tons,  though  comparatively  new  things,  were  plenty 
on  cuffs,  shirt,  and  front.  Over  his  coat  and  waist 
coat  were  two  broad  straps  crossed  diagonally. 
These  held  up  his  cartridge  box  and  bayonet  scab 
bard.  On  his  head  was  a  three-cornered  or  cocked 
hat  with  cockade  or  pompon  of  red,  white,  and  blue. 


24  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

His  powder-horn,  for  loading  and  priming,  was 
carved  with  sentiments,  dates,  scraps,  history,  sta 
tistics,  or  geography  —  his  true  "horn-book."  His 
musket  was  a  smooth  bore,  with  a  wood  or  iron 
ramrod.  The  cock  held  a  piece  of  flint,  which 
struck  upon  a  steel  fender  and  threw  sparks  at  the 
priming  powder  in  the  pan  below.  Hearty  and 
healthy,  alert,  potent,  brave  was  the  young  Minute- 
man  and  Continental.  Most  of  the  civil  leaders  and 
military  officers  of  the  Revolution  were  young  men. 

Until  regular  army  firearms  and  bayonets  were 
imported  from  Europe,  mostly  from  the  Netherlands 
and  France,  the  ordinary  soldier  in  the  ranks  knew 
very  little  about  a  bayonet.  The  rifle  was  first  in 
use  among  the  Pennsylvanians,  Swiss  and  Germans. 
It  was  superbly  developed  in  Kentucky.  Morgan's 
riflemen  and  sharpshooters  were  recruited  almost 
wholly  in  the  region  where  the  Swiss  and  Germans 
from  the  Palatinate  had  settled.  Our  gallant 
Marine  Corps  was  the  first  part  of  the  armed  force, 
or  permanent  military  establishment  created  by  law. 
It  is  thus  the  oldest  part  of  the  war  service  of  the 
United  States. 

The  conflict  of  arms  between  the  years  1775  and 
1783  was  a  civil  war  between  kinsmen  who  spoke 
the  same  language.  It  was  hard  work  for  the  Brit 
ish  king  to  get  natives  for  his  work,  and  he  had 
to  hire  foreigners.  If  in  the  American  army  were 


FROM  LEXINGTON   TO   STILL  WATER.  2$ 

many  who  did  not  talk  English  well,  there  were  in 
the  royal  forces  Hessians  and  Indians  who  could 
not  speak  it  at  all.  About  forty  thousand  loyalists, 
or  people  who  served  King  George,  left  our  borders 
for  Canada,  and  living  there,  developed  that  region. 

After  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  scene 
of  war  was  transferred  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Boston  to  the  region  of  Manhattan  Island.  A 
great  British  fleet  and  army  under  Lord  Howe 
entered  the  Hudson  River,  to  separate  New  Eng 
land  from  the  other  colonies  and  then  meet  Bur- 
goyne  coming  from  Canada.  Thirty  thousand 
splendidly  armed  and  equipped  British  and  Ger 
man  soldiers  tried  to  surround  and  capture  eigh 
teen  thousand  Americans,  most  of  them  raw  militia 
without  guns  or  supplies. 

The  British  plan  of  campaign  was  to  march  an 
army  down  the  Hudson  valley  from  Canada  and 
unite  forces  on  Manhattan  Island,  cutting  the  thir 
teen  colonies  in  half,  and  thus  quickly  ending  the 
war.  Washington's  strategy  was  to  keep  the  two 
armies  separate,  by  drawing  Lord  Howe's  forces 
southward;  and  Washington  succeeded  even  in 
disaster.  The  two  British  hosts  were  never  united, 
and  the  colonies  were  never  separated.  This  is  the 
whole  story  of  the  war. 

In  the  battle  of  Brooklyn,  August  27,  1776,  the 
brave  young  men  of  the  Maryland  line  bore  the 


26  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

brunt  of  the  British  attack.  They  were  over 
whelmed  by  superior  force.  Washington  relieved 
Putnam  and  his  nine  thousand  men,  and  in  a  fog 
escaped  with  his  army  across  the  Hudson.  Losing 
an  important  fort  through  a  deserter's  treachery  and 
the  assault  of  the  Hessians,  Washington  retreated 
to  New  Jersey  with  his  remnant  of  brave  men. 
He  crossed  the  Delaware  on  the  8th  of  December 
at  Trenton  and  reached  Pennsylvania  again,  the 
state  where  his  earliest,  longest,  and  most  glorious 
service  had  been,  or  was  to  be. 

When  Christmas  Day  dawned,  it  was  still  dark 
night  with  the  cause  of  freedom.  Neither  New 
Englanders  nor  New  York  Dutch  folks  then  cele 
brated  the  birthday  of  Jesus.  The  former  had  their 
Thanksgiving  festival  in  November,  and  the  latter, 
Santa  Claus  Day,  December  6.  But  the  Germans, 
whether  Hessians  forced  to  fight  for  King  George, 
or  the  older  makers  of  Pennsylvania,  from  whom 
we  have  borrowed  the  Christmas  tree,  until  it  is  now 
national,  always  made  much  of  Christmas.  Among 
the  soldiers  there  was  much  hilarity  and  carousing. 
Washington  knew  this  and  resolved  to  cross  the 
Delaware  again  and  attack  Colonel  Rahl's  Ger 
mans.  His  Massachusetts  men  from  Marblehead 
pushed  the  boats  through  the  floating  ice.  The 
Pennsylvania  colonel,  Jehu  Eyre,  Washington's  aid, 
directed  the  general  movement,  and  the  successful 


FROM  LEXINGTON   TO   STILLIVATER.  2 / 

crossing  of  the  ice-choked  river  was  more  wonder 
ful  than  the  battle  itself.  With  scarcely  the  loss  of 
a  man,  Washington  captured  a  thousand  Hessian 
prisoners,  plenty  of  arms  and  ammunition,  infusing 
a  novel  sort  of  Christmas  joy  all  through  the  new  na 
tion.  The  prisoners,  sent  among  their  Pennsylvania 
German  kinsmen,  who  could  talk  their  language,  had 
their  eyes  opened,  and  many  of  them  deserted.  After 
the  war  many  more  remained  in  or  came  back  to 
America,  where  among  their  descendants  are  to-day 
thousands  of  fine  families.  Our  brilliant  cavalry 
leader,  General  Custer,  was  the  grandson  of  a  Hes 
sian. 

Then  grandly  Philadelphia's  young  men,  led  by 
the  "  free  Quakers,"  Colonels  Jehu  and  Manuel  Eyre, 
rushed  to  the  aid  of  Washington.  Lord  Corn- 
wallis,  a  gay  fox-hunter,  having  hastened  across 
New  Jersey  to  catch  Washington  and  his  raw 
reinforcements,  waited  over  night  at  Trenton  with 
only  the  Assinpink  creek  between  the  two  camps. 
He  expected  to  "  bag  "  his  game  in  the  morning. 
He  had  left  part  of  his  force  at  Princeton,  where,  as 
we  shall  see,  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  Revo 
lution  was  to  be  fought.  But  in  the  night,  leaving 
his  watch-fires  burning,  Washington  moved  around 
to  the  eastward,  over  an  old  and  shorter  road,  but 
now  frozen  hard.  As  the  morning  sun  arose,  his 
advanced  guard  was  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  near 


28  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Princeton.  The  regiment  or  two  of  redcoats  on 
their  way  to  Trenton  met  the  Americans.  The 
brave  British  lads  marched  up,  fired  their  volley; 
then,  with  a  cheer,  they  rushed  upon  the  Americans 
and  drove  them  flying. 

At  this  moment  Washington  appeared  in  fiery 
valor.  With  the  soldier's  splendid  enthusiasm,  and 
knowing  that  if  beaten  the  American  cause  was  lost, 
he  led  his  men,  veterans  and  Philadelphia  militia,  to 
the  charge.  He  plunged  into  the  smoke  and  rode 
up  to  within  thirty  yards  of  the  British  firing  line. 
For  a  few  minutes,  invisible  and  liable  to  be  shot 
from  either  side,  his  officers  were  anxious  enough. 
Then  the  wind  blew  away  the  cloud.  There  he 
stood  unscathed,  making  a  living  picture,  which 
Trumbull  the  painter  transferred  from  reality  to 
canvas.  Mainly  through  the  bravery  of  the  Phila 
delphia  troops  and  artillerymen,  the  battle  became 
a  great  victory.  In  this  conflict  Colonel  Jehu  Eyre 
was  Washington's  aid. 

Drawing  off  his  troops  to  Morristown,  New  Jer 
sey,  Washington  spent  the  winter  there.  He  had 
won  his  point  in  keeping  the  British  scattered.  In 
the  spring,  officers  from  France,  Holland,  Germany, 
and  Poland  came  over  to  help  us,  among  whom 
were  the  French  Marquis  de  Lafayette ;  the  Dutch 
naval  officers,  Commodore  Dillon  and  Captain 
Joyner,  and  the  army  men,  Colonel  Dircks  and 


FROM  LEXINGTON   TO  STILLWATER.  2$ 

Bernard  Romans ;  the  Germans  Baron  de  Kalb  and 
Baron  Steuben,  the  Polish  Count  Pulaski,  and  others. 

To  meet  Lord  Howe's  fleet  and  army  at  New 
York,  General  Burgoyne  had  come  down  from 
Canada  through  the  valley  and  waterway  of  Lake 
Champlain,  Lake  George  Valley,  and  the  Hudson 
River;  but  through  the  activity  of  General  Philip 
Schuyler,  who  cut  off  his  supplies,  his  forces  were 
nearly  reduced  to  starvation.  The  failure  of  the 
expedition  to  Oswego,  the  defeat  of  the  Hessians 
at  Bennington  by  the  militia  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont,  the  American  success  in  the  fiercely 
contested  battle  of  Oriskany  in  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
—  one  of  the  bloodiest  conflicts  during  the  war, — 
compelled  Burgoyne,  after  fighting  battles  at  Bemis 
Heights  and  Stillwater,  to  surrender  his  entire  army 
of  six  thousand  men.  The  total  loss  of  the  British 
was  about  ten  thousand,  and  their  plan  of  campaign 
was  completely  ruined. 

Thus  New  England  and  New  York  were  left  un- 
vexed  by  British  steel  or  keel.  Within  two  centu 
ries,  into  the  domain  bounded  by  that  Empire  State 
which  was  born  in  1777,  four  powers  had  come  and 
three  had  gone.  In  1880,  when  the  people  of  the 
First  Reformed  Church  of  Schenectady  celebrated 
their  bicentennial  anniversary,  a  colossal  banner, 
quartered  in  green,  orange,  red,  and  white,  represent 
ing  the  turtle,  the  totem  of  the  Iroquois ;  the  pelican 


30  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

feeding  her  young  with  bosom-blood,  the  emblem 
used  by  William  the  Silent ;  the  British  lion ;  and 
the  American  eagle,  told  the  romance  of  conquest 
in  graphic  symbol. 

In  the  South,  after  fighting  the  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine  and  another  at  Germantown,  in  both  of  which 
the  Americans  were  beaten,  the  British  army  settled 
down  quietly  in  Philadelphia.  Washington  went 
into  winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    NAVY    IN    THE    REVOLUTIONARY    WAR. 

TT  is  generally  supposed  that  in  the  Revolutionary 
1  war  our  liberties  were  won  entirely  by  the  army 
on  land.  Yet  it  is  even  more  probable  that,  from 
1775  to  1783,  there  were  more  Americans  fighting 
for  their  country  on  the  seas  than  there  were  on 
shore.  It  was  not  the  victories  of  the  Continental 
troops  which  made  King  George  sue  for  peace,  so 
much  as  it  was  the  captures  of  British  ships  and 
the  injury  to  British  commerce  wrought  by  our 
men-of-war  and  privateers. 

Although  the  war  of  independence  opened  with 
spirit  and  was  carried  on  with  courage  and  self- 
devotion,  yet  there  were  great  fluctuations  in  pa 
triotism  and  in  the  size  of  the  army,  as  well  as 
in  the  sums  of  money  spent  for  defence.  The  high- 
water  mark  of  the  national  spirit  was  reached  in 
those  efforts  which  compelled  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne.  Then,  both  Americans  and  Europeans 
thought  the  war  would  end,  but  it  did  not.  Disas 
ters  to  our  arms  followed,  which  made  the  public 
spirit  droop,  until  it  looked  as  though  we  should 
have  to  depend  upon  Frenchmen  to  win  our  liberties 

31 


32  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

for  us.  The  American  army  was  very  large  at  the 
beginning.  In  1776  there  was  probably  as  many  as 
ninety  thousand  militia  and  regulars,  on  paper  at  least, 
and  nearly  fifty  thousand  were  actually  under  arms, 
but  in  1781  the  number  had  fallen  to  about  fourteen 
thousand,  and  the  money  paid  annually  for  mili 
tary  support  had  decreased  from  $21,000,000  to 
$2,000,000. 

With  dissensions  in  Congress  and  in  the  state 
legislatures,  the  people  discouraged  and  tired  of  the 
war,  it  is  probable  that  had  it  not  been  for  our  navy's 
influence  upon  British  opinion,  we  could  not,  even 
with  Bourbon  aid,  have  won  our  independence. 
But  with  our  privateers  and  men-of-war  at  sea  cap 
turing  hundreds  of  British  vessels,  marine  insurance 
in  London  rose  to  forty  and  even  sixty  per  cent. 
In  one  year  only  forty  out  of  four  hundred  British 
vessels  engaged  in  the  African  trade  escaped  the 
clutches  of  the  Americans.  In  another  year,  half 
the  trading  fleet  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
West  Indies  was  taken.  As  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
the  clamor  of  the  British  merchants  and  their 
pressure  upon  the  government  which  compelled 
King  George  to  make  peace. 

Beside  the  Continental  or  national  navy,  most  of 
the  states  had  their  own  ships  and  fleets,  Massachu 
setts,  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Carolina  leadjpg. 
The  Bay  State  commissioned  during  the  war  about 


THE  NAVY  IN   THE   REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  33 

six  hundred  privateers,  and  her  own  vessels  probably 
outnumbered  those  of  the  national  navy.  South 
Carolina  had  the  heaviest  ship  afloat  that  ever, 
before  1812,  sailed  under  the  American  flag,  though 
unfortunately  she  was  captured  by  the  British.  The 
Pennsylvanian,  Hyder  Ally,  fought  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  battles  of  the  war. 

Our  men  went  to  sea  as  soon  as  hostilities  opened 
at  Lexington,  and  began  destroying  British  com 
merce  in  the  African  and  West  Indian  waters.  The 
Tories  were  also  very  busy.  In  one  year  they  had 
as  many  as  six  thousand  men  serving  the  king  in 
privateers,  which  in  six  months  brought  into  port 
142  prizes.  The  most  active  naval  year  was  1777, 
when  as  many  possibly  as  eight  hundred  captures 
were  made  on  one  side  or  the  other.  It  is  believed 
that  during  the  whole  war  there  were  about  five 
thousand  naval  war  episodes,  including  captures, 
armed  encounters  on  the  coast  or  in  the  rivers,  or 
bloody  battles  at  sea,  in  which  about  three  thousand 
prizes  were  captured  from  the  enemy. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  under  John  Adams, 
the  great  nationalizer,  thirteen  frigates,  named  after 
the  different  states,  were  ordered  to  be  built.  The 
chief  object  at  first  was  defence,  and  to  intercept 
supplies  for  the  British  army,  but  after  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  the  purpose  was  offensive  as 
well  as  defensive.  Then,  not  only  were  the  Conti- 


34  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

nental  armies  and  militia  to  be  supplied  with  cloth 
ing  and  munitions  of  war,  but  the  enemy  was  to  be 
weakened  as  much  as  possible.  Both  objects  were 
grandly  accomplished,  for  most  of  the  cannon,  mor 
tars,  and  powder  used  in  our  army  was  made  for  us 
in  Great  Britain  and  captured  by  our  sailors. 

After  the  British  had  left  Boston,  Captain  Mud- 
ford  in  the  Franklin  captured  a  ship  that  had  on 
board  fifteen  hundred  barrels  of  powder,  intrench 
ing  tools,  gun  carriages,  and  other  stores.  In  one 
prize  Captain  Jones  found  ten  thousand  British 
suits  of  clothing.  In  another,  Commodore  Hop 
kins  captured  eight  out  of  ten  ships  which  were 
being  sent  with  men  and  stores  to  Georgia.  An 
entire  fleet  was  fitted  out  in  Boston  harbor  by 
stores  meant  for  the  British  army  in  New  York, 
but  captured  on  their  way.  The  great  head 
quarters  of  our  privateers  from  1775  until  1781 
was  at  the  Dutch  island  of  St.  Eustatius  in  the 
West  Indies. 

"Maine"  has  become  a  synonym  with  the  begin 
ning  of  hostilities  in  three  of  our  wars,  British, 
Barbary,  and  Spanish.  The  first  Lexington  on 
the  seas  was,  like  the  opening  battle  on  land,  "  a 
rising  of  the  people  against  a  regular  force,  and 
was  characterized  by  a  long  chase,  a  bloody  struggle, 
and  a  triumph."  In  this  the  armed  schooner  Mar- 
garetta  was  captured,  May  n,  1775,  near  Machias, 


THE  NAVY  IN   THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  35 

in  Maine,  by  an  enterprising  party  of  forty  young 
men.  Washington  issued  commissions  to  vessels 
to  cruise  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  intercept  the 
British  supply-ships.  Captain  Manly  in  the  schooner 
Lee  at  Marblehead  took  the  English  brig  Nancy 
and  three  other  store-ships,  which  helped  finely  to 
supply  the  Continentals  with  munitions  of  war. 

Although  for  the  United  States  to  begin  naval 
war  with  so  powerful  a  country  as  Great  Britain 
was  like  "an  infant  taking  a  bull  by  the  horns," 
yet  with  Hercules's  precedent  of  success,  Congress 
began  equipping  a  navy,  and  made  Esek  Hopkins 
of  Rhode  Island  commander-in-chief.  Gradually 
our  little  cruisers  got  out  to  sea  and  captured  not 
only  prizes,  but  even  British  vessels  of  war.  Yet  it 
was  very  difficult  to  create  a  navy,  in  the  real  sense 
of  the  term,  and  as  we  now  understand  it.  Owing 
to  the  suddenness  of  the  war  and  the  total  check  to 
commerce,  thousands  of  sailors  had  enlisted  in  the 
army  or  entered  as  privateersmen.  This  took  away 
so  many  of  our  seafaring  people  that  the  national 
navy  could  not  be  easily  manned.  Nevertheless, 
Captain  Paul  Jones  secured  and  drilled  a  crew,  and 
in  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Providence  took 
sixteen  prizes.  Captain  Whipple,  with  one  ship, 
captured  ten  merchant  vessels  in  a  fleet  of  fifty. 
Captain  Biddle  in  the  Andrea  Dorea  took  so  many 
of  the  enemy's  armed  vessels  and  merchantmen, 


36  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

putting  prize  crews  on  each,  that  when  he  came 
back  from  his  cruise,  only  five  of  his  original  crew 
were  with  him,  the  places  of  his  own  sailors  being 
supplied  by  volunteers  from  among  the  prisoners. 

To  show  how  British  plans  were  often  upset  by 
our  sea-rovers,  we  may  state  that  within  a  few  weeks 
of  1776,  about  five  hundred  men  of  one  of  the  best 
corps  in  the  British  army  were,  with  all  their  equip 
ments  and  stores,  captured  by  our  little  ships  of 
war.  These  were  for  the  most  part  light  vessels 
armed  with  from  five  to  twenty  guns,  four,  six,  or 
twelve  pounders.  The  benefit  of  these  captures 
was  twofold.  They  not  only  weakened  the  enemy, 
but  they  gave  Congress  so  many  prisoners,  that  the 
British  could  not  look  upon  our  men  as  rebels  only 
and  refuse  to  exchange  on  equal  terms,  but  were 
obliged  to  treat  them  as  equals. 

The  Reprisal  was  the  first  American  man-of-war 
to  get  to  Europe,  arriving  in  France  in  1776  with 
Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  as  passenger.  The  doings 
of  the  Providence,  Lexington,  Andrea  Dorea, 
Defense,  Lee,  and  other  vessels  caused  intense  sur 
prise  and  indignation  in  England;  for  people  trav 
elling  from  London  to  Holland  or  France  ran  the 
risk  of  capture  by  American  privateers.  With  the 
great  thoroughfares  of  the  sea  thus  threatened, 
marine  insurance  rose  to  an  enormous  amount.  All 
England  was  so  alarmed  that  some  of  the  great 


THE  NAVY  IN   THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  37 

county  fairs  were  not  held,  and  freights  were  sent 
to  the  continent  in  French  ships. 

The  Andrea  Dorea,  Captain  Robinson,  after 
carrying  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  to  St.  Eustatius,  received,  on  November  16, 
1776,  the  first  salute  ever  fired  in  honor  of  the 
American  flag  by  a  foreign  power.  Five  days  after 
ward,  Captain  Isaac  Van  Bibber,  in  The  Baltimore 
Hero,  captured  an  English  brigantine  just  outside 
the  harbor.  On  her  way  home  the  Andrea  Dorea 
captured  the  Race  Horse,  an  English  man-of-war, 
that  had  been  sent  out  to  capture  her.  Captain 
Robinson  brought  his  prize  into  the  Delaware  River, 
but  when  the  British  fleet  came  in,  this  gallant  ves 
sel  had  to  be  burnt  to  save  her  from  the  enemy. 

In  fact,  all  along  our  coast  and  in  the  Hudson  and 
Delaware  rivers,  there  were  battles  or  skirmishes, 
whenever  a  British  cruiser  appeared  or  attempted 
to  land.  On  lakes  George  and  Champlain,  flo 
tillas  of  boats  were  built  and  armed,  and  a  battle 
fought  October  n,  1776.  The  American  vessels, 
Royal  Savage,  Revenge,  Liberty,  Lee,  Congress, 
Washington,  Trumbull,  with  eight  gondolas,  in  all 
manned  by  six  hundred  men  and  carrying  ninety 
guns,  which  fired  at  one  discharge  six  hundred  and 
forty-seven  pounds,  met  with  the  British  force  of 
thirty  fighting  vessels.  A  hot  fire  of  several  hours 
was  the  result,  in  which  about  a  hundred  were  killed 


38  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  wounded  on  both  sides.  This  battle  on  Lake 
Champlain  was  renewed  the  next  day  by  General 
Arnold,  who  fought  with  great  bravery.  Though 
the  Americans  lost  eleven  vessels,  and  the  affair  was 
disastrous,  much  credit  was  gained  our  arms  by  the 
obstinacy  and  bravery  of  our  men. 

In  1777  we  had  something  like  a  regular  navy, 
though  at  the  assault  on  Fort  Mifflin  in  the  Dela 
ware,  by  the  British  squadron,  our  men  were 
obliged  to  evacuate  the  work.  The  enemy  got 
possession  of  the  river,  from  Cape  May  to  Phila 
delphia,  and  several  of  our  ships  were  burned  to 
prevent  them  from  falling  into  his  hands.  The 
British  vessels  were  blockading  our  ports  and  it 
was  difficult  to  get  the  national  ships  at  sea.  This 
was  the  year  when  the  stars  were  first  added  to  the 
stripes  in  our  national  flag.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  first  American  vessel  to  fly  the  striped  flag  of 
the  Continental  Congress  in  foreign  waters,  and  to 
salute  it  with  cannon,  was  the  brig  Nancy,  late  in 
July,  1776,  whose  captain,  while  at  St.  Thomas  in 
the  West  Indies,  heard  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  signed  a  few  days  before.  The  first  to 
float  the  starry  flag  on  a  regular  American  man-of- 
war  in  alien  seas  was  Commodore  Paul  Jones  of 
endless  fame. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FROM    SARATOGA    TO    YORKTOWN. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  went  to  France  as 
envoy  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  there 
made  many  friends.  When  asked  in  Paris  about 
the  success  of  the  American  republic,  he  always 
answered  smilingly,  Ca  ira  (it  will  go).  These 
words,  afterward  taken  as  the  name  of  French 
warships  and  privateers,  became  a  cheery  cry  of  en 
couragement  when  things  looked  dark.  The  phrase 
is  still  used  by  the  French  people. 

And  it  did  go.  The  Bourbon  king  and  govern 
ment,  in  the  hope  of  regaining  Canada,  and  in  order 
to  humble  Albion  their  foe,  recognized  our  country, 
saluted  our  flag,  which  then  had  thirteen  stripes  but 
no  stars,  lent  us  three  million  dollars,  gave  us  two 
million  dollars  more,  and  agreed  to  help  us  with  an 
army  and  a  fleet.  The  German  Baron  Steuben,  a 
superb  drill-master,  reached  Valley  Forge,  and  by 
his  diligence  and  pains  changed  a  mob  of  militia 
into  a  splendid  army.  Soon,  at  Monmouth,  for  the 
first  time  in  the  war,  a  regular  pitched  battle  be 
tween  two  well-organized  armies  was  to  be  fought. 

39 


4O  THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

No  war  can  be  carried  on  without  money.  Rob 
ert  Morris,  the  Philadelphia  banker,  provided  "  the 
sinews  of  war"  by  personally  collecting  money 
and  pledging  his  own  credit.  He  was  the  great 
financier  of  the  Revolution.  Another  friend  of 
Washington  and  our  country  was  the  Philadelphia 
German  "  Baker  General "  Christopher  Ludwick, 
who  set  up  ovens,  made  good  bread  in  the  camps, 
and  otherwise  improved  the  food  of  our  soldiers. 

When  the  French  fleet  sailed  to  America,  the 
British  were  forced  to  leave  Philadelphia,  and  fif 
teen  thousand  of  them  started  to  go  by  land  across 
the  Jerseys.  On  the  way  to  Monmouth  hundreds 
of  Hessians  deserted.  A  fierce  battle  was  fought, 
and  then  Washington  retired  to  the  line  of  the 
Hudson  River. 

Meanwhile  the  Iroquois  Indians  had  taken  the 
side  of  the  British,  and  in  central  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  devastated  the  country.  They  made 
raids  in  the  Mohawk,  Schoharie,  and  Wallkill  valleys, 
and  massacred  the  people  at  Wyoming  and  Cherry 
Valley.  On  the  other  hand,  in  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
'Captain  George  Rogers  Clark  drove  the  British  and 
their  red  allies  before  him,  held  the  territory,  and 
thus  gave  solid  ground  for  the  Continental  Con 
gress  to  claim  this  region  at  the  peace  of  1783. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  year  1778  the  British  cap 
tured  Savannah.  In  midsummer  of  1779  General 


FROM  SARATOGA    TO    YORKTOWN.  41 

Anthony  Wayne  performed  the  most  brilliant  feat 
of  the  whole  war.  By  a  bayonet  charge,  he  took 
Stony  Point  on  the  Hudson.  After  this,  with  the 
exception  of  the  episode  of  Arnold's  treason  at 
West  Point,  the  awful  winter  suffering  at  Morris- 
town,  and  Arnold's  raid  in  Connecticut,  there  were 
no  military  events  of  importance  in  the  North,  ex 
cept  Sullivan's  expedition  into  the  lake  country  of 
New  York. 

Arnold  and  Montgomery's  expedition  in  Canada 
and  the  invasion  of  an  Indian  wilderness  in  1 779  were 
like  making  war  in  a  foreign  country.  The  latter 
was  beyond  the  line  of  coast  settlements,  and  the 
roads  following  the  Indian  trails  had  to  be  chopped 
through  the  woods  and  made  wide  enough  for  the 
artillery.  The  expedition  was  a  necessity,  in  order 
to  prevent  further  Indian  incursions  and  to  stop  a 
destructive  "  fire  in  the  rear."  It  was  decided  to 
destroy  the  Indian  settlements. 

Washington  ordered  General  Sullivan  to  march 
from  Easton  on  the  Delaware  to  Wyoming  on  the 
Susquehanna,  and  thence  northward,  while  a  bri 
gade  of  General  James  Clinton  moved  from  Otsego 

o  J  o 

Lake  southward  to  join  Sullivan. 

No  other  state  in  the  Union  has  such  a  series  of 
waterways,  salt  and  fresh,  inland  and  oceanic,  as 
New  York,  which  was  the  real  centre  of  the  war, 
and  contributed  43,600  soldiers,  in  this  respect 


42  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

being  surpassed  only  by  Massachusetts.  Right  in 
the  heart  of  the  commonwealth  is  a  wonderful  lake 
region.  Beginning  with  Onondaga,  we  have  a 
dozen  of  these  sheets  of  fresh  water,  most  of  them 
so  long  and  narrow  that  they  are  called  "  finger 
lakes."  All  lovely  and  beautiful,  they  lie  directly 
over  beds  of  salt  or  above  intervening  strata,  under 
which  is  the  deposit  of  an  ocean  that  dried  up  ages, 
ago.  How  these  lakes  were  made,  whether  by  the 
scooping  and  scouring  action  of  glaciers,  or  by  the 
melting  out  of  the  salt  caverns,  and  the  breaking 
of  the  rocky  shell  above  them,  thus  letting  in  the 
water  and  making  deep  the  troughs  on  the  earth's 
surface,  is  not  known.  Among  these  lakes  the 
Six  Nations  of  the  Iroquois  lived. 

The  march  of  Sullivan's  united  forces  began 
August  26,  1779.  On  the  2Qth  the  big  battle  of 
Newtown,  near  Elmira,  was  fought  and  won.  Then 
the  Indian  villages  on  Cayuga  and  Seneca  lakes, 
with  their  grain  fields,  orchards,  and  long  houses, 
were  destroyed.  After  going  as  far  as  Canandai- 
gua,  the  army  of  thirty-five  hundred  men  returned, 
having  so  devastated  the  Indian  region  that  the 
Iroquois  could  never  again  during  the  war  give 
serious  trouble.  They  retreated  to  Canada,  and 
there  disease  and  famine  reduced  their  numbers 
terribly.  Six  American  counties  are  named  after 
Sullivan,  the  brave  soldier  of  Irish  descent.  On 


FROM  SARATOGA    TO    YORKTOWN.  43 

our  side  of  the  boundary  line  the  name  of  Brandt, 
the  Indian  chief,  whose  warriors  raided  the  val 
leys  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  is  a  synonym 
of  cruelty  and  terror.  On  the  other  stands  his 
statue,  and  he  is  honored.  The  war  between  the 
New  York  frontiersmen  and  the  Tories,  Indian  and 
British,  was  prolonged,  bitter,  and  bloody.  Only 
one  other  state,  Massachusetts,  excelled  New  York 
in  the  number  of  enlistments  or  soldiers  in  the  field. 

In  the  South,  although  the  British  forces  had 
taken  Charleston  on  the  i2th  of  May,  1780,  the 
"  swamp  fox,"  Marion,  gave  them  much  trouble. 
The  redcoats  marched  inland  to  Camden.  There, 
on  the  1 6th  of  August,  they  won  a  victory;  but  in 
October  the  triumph  of  the  Kentuckians  at  King's 
Mountain  changed  the  whole  face  of  affairs.  The 
American  Highlanders,  living  on  the  borders  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  and  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  had  formed  a  body  of  rough  riders, 
and  quickly  marching  eastward  attacked  their  foes. 
Although  the  latter  were  partially  equipped  with 
breech-loading  arms,  among  the  first  employed  in 
warfare,  and  had  bayonets,  the  rough  riders,  who 
had  neither,  though  they  knew  their  rifles  well,  won 
a  splendid  victory. 

General  Greene  of  Rhode  Island  began  to  be 
master  of  the  situation,  for  he  led  Cornwallis  on  a 
lively  chase  after  him  into  Virginia.  Morgan  and 


44  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

his  riflemen  gained  the  battle  of  Cowpens.  Then, 
although  at  Guilford  Court  House,  Cornwallis  drove 
back  the  Americans,  he  had  to  retreat  and  so  began 
marching  toward  Petersburg,  Virginia.  Greene,  with 
an  army  of  only  two  thousand  men,  but  helped  by 
Marion,  Sumter,  and  Pickens,  won  victories  at  Cam- 
den  and  Eutaw  Springs. 

During  all  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the  Dutch 
were  our  friends.  They  recognized  us  and  lent  us 
more  money  even  than  the  French  did,  helping 
us  also  with  ships  and  men.  At  the  island  of  St. 
Eustatius,  in  the  West  Indies,  on  November  16, 
1776,  they  were  the  first  Europeans  to  salute  our 
flag  of  thirteen  stripes.  They  supplied  liberally 
our  privateers  and  men-of-war,  so  that  probably 
one-half  of  the  regular  equipments  and  ammuni 
tion  which  came  from  Europe  to  the  Continental 
army  were  imported  through  the  Dutch  at  St.  Eus 
tatius.  Indeed,  the  British  government  thought  it 
so  necessary  to  destroy  this  place  of  aid  and  com 
fort  to  Americans  that  Rodney's  big  fleet  was  sent 
to  the  West  Indies,  instead  of  having  him  go  to  the 
help  of  Cornwallis,  who  badly  needed  assistance. 

General  Greene  having  recovered  the  Carolinas, 
and  La  Fayette  having  pressed  him  hard,  Cornwallis 
was  forced  to  retreat  to  Yorktown,  where  he  forti 
fied  himself.  The  French  fleet  under  Count  de 
Grasse  had  arrived,  and  "  the  sparkling  Bourbon- 


FROM  SARATOGA    TO    YORKTOWN.  45 

nieres,"  as  the  French  soldiers  in  white  and  red 
were  called,  were  encamped  at  Lebanon,  Connect 
icut,  where  Washington  often  took  counsel  with 
"  Brother  Jonathan,"  as  Governor  Trumbull  was 
called.  The  French  wanted  to  attack  Canada, 
hoping  thus  to  regain  it  for  themselves ;  but  Wash 
ington  preferred,  even  after  war  was  over,  to  have 
English  instead  of  French  neighbors.  So  he  planned, 
with  the  aid  of  our  French  allies,  to  march  south  to 
Yorktown  and  capture  Cornwallis. 

Having  French  and  Dutch  financial  aid  and 
promises,  Robert  Morris  was  able  to  collect  money 
for  the  expedition.  The  men  in  buff  and  blue  and 
their  allies  in  white  and  red  moved  together  to  the 
head  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  Here  they  took  ships 
to  Yorktown.  Rodney,  having  left  Cornwallis  in 
his  trap,  captured  St.  Eustatius,  with  all  its  Dutch 
and  American  stores,  its  two  thousand  American 
sailors,  and  twenty-six  American  privateers  and  war 
vessels.  He  wasted  his  time  on  the  beach,  auction 
eering  off  the  spoils,  instead  of  coming  to  help 
Cornwallis,  who,  after  three  weeks  of  siege,  sur 
rendered. 

Although  this  was  practically  the  end  of  the  war, 
nearly  two  years  of  inaction  and  waiting  were  nec 
essary  before  the  peace  treaty  was  signed.  While 
our  Continental  army  lay  at  Newburg,  such  was 
the  dissatisfaction  with  Congress  that  a  plot  was 


46  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

formed  to  establish  a  monarchy,  but  the  Dutch  loans 
of  money  deposited  at  Cornwall  came  in  good  sea 
son  to  pay  off  officers  and  troops,  and  keep  them 
contented  until  the  peace  treaty  was  signed.  On 
April  iQth  the  army  was  disbanded,  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  lasting  exactly  eight  years. 

Thus  ended  the  existence  of  the  Continental  sol 
dier,  who  stood  for  something  much  more  valuable 
than  either  the  money  or  the  Congress  of  the  same 
name.  In  the  course  of  the  war  the  quality  of  the 
men  composing  the  Congress  gradually  deteriorated, 
while  the  paper  money  grew  so  worthless  that  a  bag 
ful  of  it  was  necessary  to  pay  for  a  dinner  or  the 
grooming  of  a  horse.  The  old  slang  phrase,  "  Don't 
care  a  continental,"  referred  to  a  bit  of  pasteboard 
called  money,  and  not  to  the  brave  soldier  in  buff 
and  blue. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    STARS    AND    STRIPES    IN    THE    MEDITERRANEAN. 

WHEN,  in  1778,  the  French  became  our  allies, 
the  marine  policy  of  the  United  States  was 
greatly  changed.  Instead  of  trying  to  build  ships  at 
home,  under  great  difficulties,  heavier  expense,  and 
with  larger  chances  of  capture  by  the  British  before 
they  were  launched,  it  was  now  possible  to  build  or 
buy  war  vessels  abroad.  The  splendid  ship  Alliance, 
constructed  at  Salisbury,  in  Massachusetts,  was 
named  to  commemorate  our  friendship  with  France, 
and  became  the  favorite  of  the  nation.  Since  her 
day  there  has  always  been  a  ship  in  our  navy  named 
like  herself.  Other  vessels  were  the  Confederacy, 
the  Hague,  Queen  of  France,  Ranger,  Gates,  and 
Saratoga.  Captain  Paul  Jones,  in  command  of  the 
Providence,  twelve  guns,  harried  the  Irish  coast  and 
then  crossed  over  to  the  English  waters  to  alarm 
the  enemy  at  home.  The  next  year,  1779,  he  was 
given  a  larger  command,  and  a  project  was  made 
for  making  a  descent  upon  Liverpool  with  a  body 
of  troops  commanded  by  La  Fayette,  but  as  nothing 
came  of  this,  Paul  Jones  went  on  board  the  Bon 

47 


48  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST, 

Hommc  Richard,  which  was  named  in  compliment 
to  Dr.  Franklin. 

This  ship  was,  in  its  way,  an  old  curiosity  shop. 
It  was  as  strangely  manned  as  it  was  built,  for  the 
variety  of  its  people  suggested  a  rag  bag  or  a  crazy- 
quilt.  The  ship  was  quite  old,  built  many  years 
before  as  an  Indiaman,  and  had  one  of  those  high, 
old-fashioned  poops  that  made  the  stern  look  like  a 
tower.  The  whole  vessel  resembled  an  enormous 
Japanese  junk.  Six  old  1 8-pound  cannon  were 
mounted  below  and  a  battery  of  i2-pounders  was 
put  on  the  main  gun-deck,  while  on  the  quarter 
deck  and  forecastle  were  eight  Q-pounders,  mak 
ing  a  mixed  and  rather  light  armament  of  forty- 
two  guns. 

Except  the  few  American  officers,  the  crew  was 
made  up  of  English,  Irish,  Scotch,  Welsh,  Germans, 
Swedes,  Norwegians,  Portuguese,  Spaniards,  and 
even  Malays.  The  135  marines  on  board  were  ex 
pected  to  keep  the  sailors  in  order,  but  were  about 
as  much  mixed  as  to  nationality  as  were  the  sea 
men.  Indeed,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  of  1779, 
with  its  complement  of  380  souls,  presented  in 
miniature  a  picture  of  the  various  kinds  of  peo 
ple  that  are  being  made  into  American  citizens 
to-day.  Nevertheless,  with  this  ship  and  company, 
Paul  Jones  kept  the  eastern  coast  of  England  in 
terror  during  many  months.  Families  along  shore 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.     49 

buried  their  silver  plate,  and  both  the  military  and 
marines  were  kept  in  a  state  of  constant  drill  and 
expectation.  Jones  took  about  twenty-five  prizes, 
one  of  which,  curiously  enough,  was  a  brigantine 
named  the  Mayflower,  which  he  captured  near  the 
place  whence  the  Pilgrims,  in  1609,  fled  in  their 
boats  from  bishop-ridden  England  over  to  Holland. 

More  wonderful  to  relate,  Jones  with  his  rickety 
old  ship  captured  one  of  the  finest  vessels  in  the 
British  navy.  The  Serapis  was  a  double-decked, 
fifty-gun  ship,  new  and  strong  and  fast.  She 
mounted  on  her  lower  gun-deck  twenty  iS-pound- 
ers,  on  her  upper  gun-deck  twenty  9-pounders,  and 
on  her  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  ten  6-pounders. 
Her  regularly  trained  crew  consisted  of  320  men, 
fifteen  of  whom  were  Lascars,  or  natives  of  India. 
The  Serapis  had  yellow,  the  Richard  had  black 
sides. 

The  two  men-of-war,  the  Serapis  and  Countess 
of  Scarborough,  were  convoying  the  Baltic  fleet  of 
forty-one  ships.  Of  the  vessels  in  Jones's  squad 
ron,  the  Richard  fought  the  Serapis  alone. 

The  battle  began  about  dark,  but  by  and  by  the 
moon  rose,  and  toward  eight  o'clock  the  two  ships 
were  near  enough  to  open  fire.  Although  the  Amer 
icans  were  fighting  against  a  greatly  superior  force, 
yet  Paul  Jones  had  infused  his  own  spirit  into  his 
men,  and  they  went  cheerfully  to  their  quarters. 


50  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

At  the  very  first  broadside  two  of  his  old  18- 
pounders  burst,  blowing  up  the  deck  above  and 
killing  or  wounding  nearly  all  the  men  below.  This 
caused  the  heavy  battery  to  be  deserted,  so  that 
now  there  was  to  be  a  fight  between  a  1 2-pounder 
and  an  i8-pounder  frigate.  According  to  the  naval 
axiom  of  those  days  the  1 2-pounder  frigate  could 
never  hope  to  win.  So  certain  was  the  English 
commander  of  his  speedy  victory  that,  when  the 
two  vessels  got  foul  of  each  other,  Captain  Pearson 
called  out, — 

"  Have  you  struck  your  colors?" 

The  answer  immediately  came  back,  "  I  have  not 
yet  begun  to  fight." 

The  ships  were  lashed  together  and  the  com 
bat  continued  to  rage.  Down  below  the  18- 
pounder  guns  of  the  Serapis  soon  blew  in  and  blew 
out  large  pieces  of  the  old  ship  Richard's  sides, 
until  the  British  balls  beat  only  the  air,  but  on  the 
upper  gun-deck  the  Americans  were  pouring  in 
shot  and  grape,  while  aloft  in  the  tops  their  musket- 
men  swept  the  decks  and  cleared  the  crow's  nests 
of  the  Serapis  with  their  fire,  until  all  the  British 
got  below  deck.  Boldly  climbing  out  on  the  main- 
yards  of  the  Richard,  the  Americans  dropped  hand 
grenades  down  through  the  hatchways  of  the  Sera- 
pis,  by  which  they  exploded  the  loose  ammunition 
which  the  powder  boys  had  carelessly  left  uncovered. 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.       5  I 

By  this  calamity  twenty  men  were  killed  and  thirty- 
eight  wounded,  or  in  other  words  nearly  sixty 
persons  disabled. 

In  this  curious  night  battle  the  English  were  all 
fighting  with  the  heavy  cannon  below,  while  the 
Americans  were  working  the  upper-deck  guns  and 
small  arms.  The  Richard  was  on  fire  several  times, 
but  the  flames  were  put  out.  When,  however,  it 
was  reported  that  she  was  sinking,  the  one  hundred 
or  more  British  prisoners  on  board  the  Richard  were 
released  to  save  their  lives.  One  of  these  got  on 
board  the  Serapis  and  informed  Captain  Pearson 
that  the  Richard 'was  sinking.  The  English  leader, 
expecting  to  take  his  enemy,  called  the  boarders 
with  the  idea  of  ordering  them  on  the  Richards 
deck,  but  seeing  the  Americans  all  ready  to  repel 
the  attack  the  pikemen  retreated.  Meanwhile  the 
English  prisoners  on  the  Richard  were  set  to  work 
at  the  pumps. 

Both  ships  again  caught  fire,  and  warriors  had  to 
turn  firemen.  After  this  the  American  cannonade 
began  to  increase  and  that  of  the  Serapis  to  slacken. 
About  one  hour  after  the  explosion  the  British  flag 
was  struck.  As  not  one  of  his  men  would  expose 
himself  to  the  fire  from  the  Richards  tops,  Captain 
Pearson  hauled  down  the  colors  himself. 

This  terrible  battle  lasted  nearly  four  hours. 
The  Richard  was  so  nearly  knocked  to  pieces  that 


52  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

her  upper  decks  and  poop  were  almost  ready  to  fall 
into  the  gunroom  below,  all  except  a  few  supports 
being  shot  away.  On  fire  most  of  the  time,  she  was 
now  sinking.  Yet  by  removing  the  powder  from 
the  deck,  and  keeping  men  at  the  pumps  all  night, 
the  flames  were  got  under  at  about  ten  o'clock  next 
morning.  During  the  day  the  wounded  were  re 
moved  to  the  SerapiS)  and  about  nine  o'clock  of  the 
25th  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  went  down  bow  fore 
most.  In  this  awful  slaughter  probably  one-half 
of  all  that  were  engaged  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Paul  Jones  rigged  up  jury  masts  on  the  Serapis,  and 
with  his  two  prizes  got  into  the  Texel,  in  North 
Holland,  on  the  6th  of  October. 

The  Hollanders  were  delighted  with  this  victory, 
and  the  praises  of  Paul  Jones  were  sung  from  one 
end  of  the  Dutch  United  States  to  the  other.  The 
sentiment  of  the  republic  against  Great  Britain 
ripened,  and  sympathy  with  Americans  deepened, 
until  at  last  the  Netherlander  became  our  allies 
and  friends  and  declared  war  against  Great  Britain, 
lending  us  money  and  otherwise  giving  us  aid. 
When  I  was  in  Amsterdam  in  September,  1898, 
after  seeing  Queen  Wilhelmina  inaugurated  in  the 
Nieuwe  Kerk,  I  heard  the  people  in  the  street  sing 
ing  their  old  historic  songs,  and  among  them  "  Hier 
komt  Paul  Jones  aan"  (Here  comes  along  Paul 
Jones). 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.       53 

The  year  1779  was  marked  by  much  naval 
activity.  There  were  numerous  naval  battles  and 
captures  of  prizes.  A  great  expedition  of  twenty 
vessels,  with  fifteen  hundred  soldiers,  was  despatched 
from  Massachusetts  to  dislodge  the  British  who  had 
a  strong  post  upon  the  Penobscot  River.  These 
light  ships,  however,  were  not  able  to  contend  with 
the  heavy  British  frigates,  and  the  expedition  came 
to  disaster  and  caused  naval  enterprises  to  cease 
for  some  time.  Furthermore,  the  British  were  so 
embittered  against  our  privateers  that  they  took  two 
methods  of  annihilating,  if  possible,  the  American 
marine.  They  refused  to  exchange  any  more  of  the 
seamen  which  they  had  captured.  They  thus 
accumulated  in  England  a  large  body  of  prisoners, 
who  were  kept  at  Dartmoor  and  other  well-guarded 
places  until  the  war  was  over.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  authorized  the  employment  of  no  fewer  than 
eighty-five  thousand  men  in  their  navy,  to  make 
sure  of  annihilating  ours. 

Nevertheless,  on  June  2,  1780,  there  was  a  terri 
ble  battle  of  two  hours  and  a  half,  a  real  "  yard-arm 
engagement,"  between  the  Trumbull  and  the  Watt, 
the  former  having  thirty  guns  and  the  latter  thirty- 
four.  In  the  way  of  a  regular  cannonade  this  was 
thought  to  be  the  severest  battle  in  the  naval  war 
of  the  Revolution.  Soon  after  this,  the  Saratoga 
fought  the  Charming  Mollie  and  captured  her. 


54  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

This  victory  was  gained  by  the  pike,  Lieutenant 
Joshua  Barney  leading  the  boarders,  and  overcom 
ing  on  the  Charming  Mollies  deck  a  British  party 
nearly  double  his  own.  Later  on  the  Trumbull 
was  captured  by  the  British  vessels,  the  Iris  and 
the  General  Monk. 

The  Hyder  Ally  was  a  Pennsylvania  state  ship, 
under  command  of  Lieutenant  Joshua  Barney,  and 
named  after  a  Hindoo  chieftain  who  in  India  had 
opposed  his  conquerors. 

It  had  been  fitted  out  to  keep  the  Delaware  River 
free  from  British  barges  and  small  cruisers,  and  to 
convoy  ships  in  and  out  the  waters  around  Cape 
May.  Barney  captured  the  British  privateer, 
named  the  Fair  American,  and  putting  on  board  a 
prize  crew  sent  her  up  the  river.  He  next  fought 
and  took  the  General  Monk,  a  twenty-gun  ship.  This 
action  was  thought  to  be  one  of  the  most  brill 
iant  that  ever  occurred  under  the  American  flag, 
for  the  Monk  was  heavier  and  larger  and  carried 
9-pounder  guns,  while  the  Hyder  Ally  had  only 
6-pounders. 

The  regular  naval  warfare  came  to  an  end  under 
Captain  Manly,  who  on  our  side  may  be  said 
almost  to  have  begun  it,  for  this  gallant  officer 
commanded,  as  we  saw,  the  schooner  Lee,  which 
on  November  29,  1775,  captured  the  British  brig 
Nancy  and  other  store-ships. 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.       55 

It  is  a  brilliant  story,  that  of  our  little  navy 
during  the  Revolutionary  War.  But  as  "  life  with 
out  letters  is  death,"  so  unless  a  story  is  well  told 
it  is  not  known.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  average 
American  has  a  very  hazy  idea,  if  any  at  all,  about 
the  great  work  done  and  the  decisive  influence 
upon  results,  which  our  fathers  on  the  sea  wrought 
during  Revolutionary  days. 

We  must  never  forget  the  heroes  —  Hopkins, 
Wickes,  Conyngham,  Biddle,  Nicholson,  Manly,  Bar 
ney,  Whipple,  O'Brien,  Robinson,  Paul  Jones,  Barry, 
and  others,  beside  the  French  and  Dutch  captains 
—  who  helped  us.  Nor  should  we  fail  to  remem 
ber  the  gallant  men  of  the  shore  arid  the  seaports, 
and  the  marines,  who,  though  not  known,  did  their 
part  to  serve  their  country.  One  who  looks  over 
the  register  of  names  in  our  navy  to-day,  and  along 
through  its  history,  will  find  that  certain  families, 
like  the  Nicholsons,  Rodgers,  and  Perrys,  have  con 
tributed  a  large  number  of  competent  and  gallant 
officers,  who  in  the  naval  service  have  shed  lustre 
upon  their  country.  With  not  a  few  their  line  of 
service  is  ancestral,  beginning  even  back  in  the 
Revolution. 

There  were  many  prophetic  voices  concerning 
the  United  States  of  America.  Van  der  Capellen, 
one  of  our  many  steadfast  friends,  declared  that 
the  Teutonic  race  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  gained 


56  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

potency  of  five  hundred  years  of  progress.  The 
Spanish  minister  in  London,  in  1783,  used  words 
that  are  worth  recalling.  He  said  :  — 

"  The  federal  republic  is  born  a  pygmy.  A  day 
will  come  when  it  will  be  a  giant,  even  a  colossus, 
formidable  in  these  countries.  Liberty  of  con 
science,  the  facility  of  establishing  a  new  popula 
tion  on  immense  lands,  as  well  as  the  advantages 
of  a  new  government,  will  draw  thither  farmers  and 
artisans  from  all  nations.  In  a  few  years  we  will 
watch  with  grief  the  tyrannical  existence  of  this 
same  colossus." 

How  truly  fulfilled  in  1898  ! 

The  little  baby  boy  Simon  Bolivar,  destined  to 
be  the  liberator  of  Spanish  America,  was  forty 
days  old  when  the  treaty  between  the  two  English- 
speaking  nations  was  signed. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

FROM    CONFEDERATION    TO    CONSTITUTION. 

AFTER  the  Revolutionary  War  several  years 
of  misery  and  distress  followed.  The  nation 
created  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
July  4,  1776,  was  a  headless  republic,  a  mere  league 
of  states.  They  could  hold  together  as  long  as 
there  was  war,  but  broke  into  quarrelling  sections 
as  soon  as  the  pressure  of  foreign  hostility  was 
removed.  Europeans,  even  Englishmen,  laughed 
at  the  idea  of  "  federal  government "  ever  being 
successful  on  a  large  scale.  For  a  little  scrap  of 
land,  among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland,  it  might 
work.  Possibly  even  in  the  swampy  Netherlands 
it  might  do,  but  in  a  great  country,  with  plenty  of 
land,  never.  Large  republics  hitherto  had  been 
only  ideals  in  imagination.  So  they  watched  to 
see  the  American  confederation  fall  to  pieces. 

Congress  had  no  power  and  there  was  no  centre 
of  authority.  With  plenty  of  paper,  but  little  gold 
or  silver,  nearly  every  one  was  in  debt.  There  was 
no  free  interstate  commerce,  and  affairs  were  drift 
ing  into  a  dreadful  condition.  In  western  Massa- 

57 


58  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

chusetts,  which  had  a  war  debt  of  $4,000,000,  things 
came  to  a  head  in  what  is  called  Shays's  Rebellion. 
Many  hundred  excited  farmers  tried  to  stop  all  law 
suits  for  debt.  They  claimed  that  the  taxes  were 
too  heavy,  the  lawyers  too  extortionate,  and  the  gov 
ernors  and  senators  too  aristocratic ;  that  the  capital 
ought  to  be  removed  from  Boston ;  and  that  plenty 
of  paper  money  should  be  issued.  The  militia 
quelled  the  uprising,  reforms  were  begun,  and  Shays 
fled.  Being  a  revolutionary  soldier,  he  lived  in  New 
York  state  under  a  government  pension.  His  Mas 
sachusetts  mob  gave  a  tremendous  impulse  to  the 
movement  for  a  better  general  government. 

The  strong  motive  that  held  the  states  together 
was  the  claims  of  ownership  in  land,  which  several 
of  them  held  and  which  they  hoped  to  sell.  They 
would  thus  get  money  for  the  payment  of  their 
heavy  war  debts.  The  states  owed  $26,000,000  and 
the  United  States  $42,000,000.  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  New  York,  and  the  Southern  States,  except 
Maryland,  claimed  the  country  west  of  them  as  far 
as  the  Mississippi  River.  Probably  the  reason  why 
the  other  six  states  did  not  make  a  similar  claim 
was  that  their  western  boundaries  were  already 
fixed.  These  were  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire, 
and  the  well-surveyed  states  of  Pennsylvania  and 
those  touching  it,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Mary 
land.  The  best-founded  claim  was  that  of  New 


FROM    CONFEDERATION    TO    CONSTITUTION.  59 

York,  which  had  gained  its  right  to  the  soil  by  well- 
attested  treaties  with  its  first  owners,  the  Iroquois 
nation.  No  other  state  has  so  large  a  collection 
of  Indian  deeds  and  wampum  documents,  given  by 
red  men  for  lands  sold,  which  take  the  place  of 
written  and  sealed  parchments  and  papers  among 
white  men. 

New  York  led  the  way  to  the  settlement  of  the 
question.  She  was  soon  joined  by  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  and  Virginia.  They  agreed  to  give 
the  land  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  and  between 
the  lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  in  area  larger  than  the 
Austrian  Empire,  to  the  United  States,  for  the  gen 
eral  welfare.  Congress  created  a  body  of  laws,  very 
liberal  in  character,  ruling  out  slavery,  and  all  big 
otry  and  political  churchism.  Thereupon  began  an 
emigration  of  people  from  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States  into  this  splendid  territory,  out  of  which  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  have  been 
formed. 

The  pressing  national  want  was  "  a  more  perfect 
union."  In  order  to  form  this  delegates  were  sum 
moned  from  the  different  states,  and  a  body  of  very 
able  men  convened  in  Philadelphia.  After  four 
months  of  debate  in  secret  session,  they  agreed 
upon  a  written  constitution.  Thomas  Jefferson  was 
absent  from  the  country,  and  Patrick  Henry  from 
the  convention,  but  George  Washington,  Benjamin 


60  THE  ROMANCE    OF   CONQUEST. 

Franklin,  James  Madison,  Alexander  Hamilton,  were 
present  and  active.  Soon  the  legislatures  of  nine 
different  states,  led  by  Delaware  and  the  number 
completed  by  New  Hampshire,  ratified  the  instru 
ment,  and  it  became  the  supreme  law  of  the  land. 

In  making  this  compact,  our  fathers  had  before 
them  the  example  of  many  ancient  and  modern  at 
tempts  at  self-government.  They  were  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  personal  liberty  inherited  from  the 
Germanic  nations,  and  especially  the  Anglo-Saxons 
and  English  people ;  but  before  their  eyes  was  a 
living  example  of  a  federal  republic,  which  had 
lived  two  hundred  years,  even  though  surrounded 
by  mighty  monarchies  hostile  to  it.  From  the  ex 
perience  of  the  united  states  of  the  Netherlands 
they  learned,  profited,  and  knew  what  to  avoid. 
From  the  Dutch  republic,  more  than  from  any 
other  model  or  example,  they  borrowed  much,  while 
the  defects  of  its  constitution  were  avoided  or  im 
proved  upon. 

The  new  government  began  at  Philadelphia,  then 
the  central  and  largest  city  of  the  Union.  Wash 
ington  chose  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  Knox,  and  Ran 
dolph  to  assist  him  in  carrying  out  his  duties  as 
chief  executive,  and  John  Jay  as  head  of  the  Su 
preme  Court.  The  first  three  formed  what  is  called 
the  Cabinet.  Washington,  "  the  anchor  of  the  Con 
stitution,"  was  a  strong  Unionist,  an  American  as 


"WHY  DO  YOU  DO  THAT?"  SAID  THE  PRESIDENT. 


FROM  CONFEDERATION  TO    CONSTITUTION.          6 1 

against  foreigners.  He  cared  nothing  about  parties. 
Hamilton,  who  distrusted  a  democracy,  was  a  Fed 
eralist.  He  held  that  a  strong  national  government 
was  the  first  necessity.  Jefferson,  who  believed  ar 
dently  in  local  and  state  rights,  was  a  Republican- 
Democrat.  It  is  said  that  Jefferson  preferred  only 
one  legislative  chamber,  as  in  France.  Washington 
thought  there  ought  to  be  two,  a  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives.  One  evening  at  the  supper 
table,  Jefferson,  tasting  his  tea,  found  it  too  hot. 
So  he  poured  it  into  his  saucer. 

"  Why  do  you  do  that  ?  "  said  the  President. 

"  To  let  the  tea  cool,"  said  Jefferson. 

"  Quite  right,"  said  Washington,  "  and  just  so  we 
need  two  legislative  chambers  to  give  the  judgments 
of  legislators  a  chance  to  cool." 

The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  get  money.  A  duty 
was  levied  on  all  foreign  ships  and  on  much  of  the 
goods  brought  to  our  country.  By  this  revenue 
tariff  the  treasury  was  filled  and  Hamilton  at  once 
began  payment  of  the  public  debt.  We  owed  Hol 
land  and  France  for  money  borrowed  during  the 
Revolution,  and  the  home  debt  to  our  soldiers  and 
civilian  creditors  was  large.  The  different  states  were 
also  to  be  helped  in  paying  what  they  owed  to  their 
citizens.  Eight  millions  were  soon.disbursed,  and  the 
credit  of  the  United  States,  thus  securely  founded, 
has  been  maintained  through  all  our  national  history. 


62  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST, 

The  words  "  mint"  and  "  money  "  came  to  us  from 
the  Latin,  but  those  of  "coin"  and  "bank  "from  the 
Dutch.  One  of  the  things  most  necessary  in  a  new 
state  or  an  old  one  is  good  metal  money,  that  is,  coins 
which  everybody,  and  in  every  place,  will  recognize 
and  accept  at  the  value  which  is  stamped  upon  them. 
Under  the  Confederation  there  were  many  kinds  of 
paper  and  pasteboard  which  passed  for  money,  but 
very  little  cash.  Usually  the  money  in  one  state 
was  worth  much  less  in  another. 

Congress,  in  1791,  established  a  United  States 
bank  and  in  1792  the  United  States  mint.  The 
one  supplied  paper  and  the  other  metallic  money 
which  were  equally  good  in  all  the  states. 

Hamilton  fixed  our  system  of  coinage,  the  sim 
plest  and  probably  the  best  in  the  world.  Our  sys 
tem  is  the  decimal,  based  on  units  of  ten,  that  is, 
ten  mills  make  a  cent,  ten  cents  one  dime,  ten 
dimes  one  dollar,  and  ten  dollars  one  eagle.  This 
is  substantially  that  of  Holland,  though  with  great 
improvements.  Many  countries  of  the  world,  in 
cluding  even  Japan,  have  followed  the  American 
decimal  system. 

The  coinage  of  the  different  colonies  had  been 
based  on  that  of  England,  but  about  the  time  of  the 
Revolution  had  become  much  depreciated.  So  the 
Spanish  milled  dollar  was  then  taken  as  the  stand 
ard.  On  this  silver  dollar,  as  on  the  pesetas  which 


FROM   CONFEDERATION    TO    CONSTITUTION.  63 


one  still  sees  in  our  country,  since  the  destruction  of 
the  Spanish  fleet  at  Santiago,  are  stamped  the  Pil 
lars  of  Hercules  with  flags  or  streamers  flying.  This 
sign  gradually  became  the  dollar  mark  in  American 
writing.  It  looks  like  the  letter  S  with  two  perpen 
dicular  lines  drawn  through  it,  thus  $.  In  spite  of 
financial  heresies,  foolish  notions  about  what  money 
is  and  the  old  periodical  panics,  the  wealth  and 
credit  of  our  country  have  continuously  increased. 
Some  day  the  financial  centre  of  the  world  will  be 
in  New  York  or  Chicago. 

Our  first  census  in  1 790  showed  that  we  had  a 
population  of  nearly  four  millions,  who  lived  on  a 
strip  of  land  about  eight  leagues  wide  along  the 
coast  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Now  this  little  coun 
try  was  in  danger  of  being  used  by  the  great  Euro 
pean  powers  for  their  own  selfish  purposes.  Great 
Britain  wanted  to  fight  her  big  battles,  without 
much  regard  to  the  petty  little  United  States,  or 
any  other  weak  nation.  When  the  British  saw 
American  ships  carrying  supplies  to  the  French, 
they  looked  upon  it  as  "  blockade-running." 

The  Scotch-Irish,  in  western  Pennsylvania,  did 
not  relish  the  action  of  the  government  in  laying 
taxes  upon  extracts  of  rye  and  wheat.  These  peo 
ple,  like  their  fathers  in  Hibernia  and  Scotia,  were 
very  fond  of  religion  and  whiskey.  They  refused 
to  pay  the  imposts.  They  even  beat  or  tarred  and 


64  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

feathered  the  officers  sent  to  collect  revenue.  One 
of  the  first  uses  of  the  United  States  army,  under 
the  Constitution,  was  its  despatch  by  President 
Washington  into  western  Pennsylvania  to  put  down 
this  first,  but  not  last,  manifestation  of  the  liquor 
power  in  our  country.  The  troops  were  mostly 
Pennsylvanians,  and  between  the  Governor's  oratory 
and  the  presence  of  the  militia  the  whiskey  rebel 
lion,  in  this  primitive  form,  was  soon  put  down. 

From  the  first  Washington  set  the  tone  and  gave 
the  example  of  true  Americanism.  He  was  for  the 
whole  country,  and  not  sections  of  it.  He  resisted 
every  attempt  of  both  natives  and  foreigners  to 
check  the  growth  of  real  patriotism.  The  French 
had  risen  up  against  their  rulers,  beheaded  their 
king,  and  started  a  republic.  "  Citizen  Genet " 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  get  American  money  and 
ships  to  help  the  French  fight  the  English.  Many 
of  our  people,  in  their  gratitude  to  France  for  aid 
during  our  Revolution,  were  more  zealous  than  wise. 
They  rallied  round  Genet,  and  it  looked  as  if  one 
half  of  the  Americans  would  be  pro-French  and 
the  other  half  pro-British,  and  that  we  should  be 
dragged  into  a  war  with  England  when  we  were 
poor,  debt-burdened,  and  least  able  to  defend  our 
selves.  President  Washington  issued  a  proclama 
tion  of  neutrality,  which  set  the  American  precedent 
of  taking  no  part  in  European  quarrels. 


FROM   CONFEDERATION   TO    CONSTITUTION.  65 

This  showed  that  the  Father  of  his  Country  was 
something  else  than  an  English  colonial  gentleman. 
He  was  more,  even  a  true  American.  Indeed,  he 
was  the  first  to  rise  above  the  colonial  spirit  into 
the  broad  idea  of  a  new  and  grand  American  na 
tionality.  In  1795  he  wrote  to  Patrick  Henry: 
"  My  ardent  desire  is  to  keep  the  United  States  free 
from  political  connection  with  every  other  country, 
to  see  them  independent  of  all,  and  under  the  influ 
ence  of  none.  In  a  word,  I  want  an  American  char 
acter,  that  the  powers  of  Europe  may  be  convinced 
that  we  act  for  ourselves  and  not  for  others." 

Thus  this  wise  and  great  man,  who  foresaw  our 
national  future,  gave  us,  under  God,  the  true  prin 
ciple  of  unity.  Our  fathers  listened  to  his  voice, 
pondered,  took  "  sober  second  thought,"  and  de 
cided  aright  and  happily  for  us.  Instead  of  scat 
tering  and  degenerating,  our  country  began  to 
consolidate  and  grow.  The  nation,  obeying  the 
true  instinct  of  development,  began  to  expand 
toward  the  West.  A  great  stream  of  population 
moved  over  the  mountain  wall  of  the  Alleghany. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    MOVEMENT    BEYOND    THE    ALLEGHANIES. 

A  MIGHTY  line  of  mountains,  called  the  Ap 
palachian  chain,  runs  southwestwardly  from 
Labrador,  and  forms  the  wonderful  rock  coast  of 
New  England,  from  Maine  to  Rhode  Island.  After 
Narragansett  Pier  there  are  no  more  rocks  along 
the  ocean  front  until  we  get  to  South  America. 
Moving  inward,  the  mountain  line,  by  its  westward 
trend,  allows  a  great  slope  of  land  between  the  sea- 
beach  and  highlands  and  from  Connecticut  to  Mis 
sissippi.  This  in  the  eastern  portion  is  a  fertile 
tide-water  region.  In  the  western  areas  it  is  rich 
in  grain  and  pasture  lands,  grottos  and  waterfalls, 
glens  and  passes.  This  line  makes  state  boundaries 
between  the  Carolinas  and  Kentucky  and  Tennes 
see,  furnishing  plateaus  with  some  of  the  most  in 
viting  highland  soil  in  the  country,  and  here  and 
there  gaps  or  natural  gateways.  These  allow  roads 
to  be  built  through  and  over  from  the  east  to  the 
west,  along  which  armies,  freight  and  passenger 
trains  can  move.  Some  of  them,  like  Cumberland 
Gap,  are  very  famous.  Through  these  passes  high- 

66 


THE   MOVEMENT  BEYOND    THE  ALLEGHANIES.       67 

ways  were  built  at  state  or  national  expense,  and 
soon  great  lines  of  emigration  moved  over  these 
roads.  Various  were  the  forms  of  vehicle  that 
were  built  to  accommodate  the  traffic.  The  famous 
Conestoga  wagon  was  long  and  large,  with  high 
sides  and  stout  canvas  cover,  projecting  out  behind 
and  before.  It  thus  served  as  a  tent,  which  could 
be  enlarged  by  opening  the  side  flap.  Thousands 
of  families,  men,  women,  and  the  stronger  children, 
with  their  faces  toward  the  setting  sun,  tramped  by 
day  and  slept  on  the  ground  by  night.  In  rainy 
weather  they  lived  in  the  wagon,  using  it  as  a  bed 
room  at  night  and  kitchen  or  storehouse  by  day. 
Soon  villages  and  towns  sprung  up,  and  inns  lined 
the  roads. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  nation's  system  of  trans 
portation  the  Indian  trails  became  first  earth  roads, 
with  sections  of  plank  or  corduroy,  then  turnpikes, 
then  iron  and  finally  steel  railways. 

Of  all  the  gaps,  that  one  between  Albany  and 
Schenectady,  which  formed  the  gateway  into  the 
beautiful  Mohawk  Valley,  is  the  most  important, 
whether  for  warlike  strategy  —  as  military  men, 
from  Frontenac  in  Montreal  to  Grant  on  Mount 
MacGregor,  have  noticed  —  or  for  business.  Here 
the  mountains  drop  clown  to  within  a  few  score  feet 
in  height,  and  a  majestic  river  breaks  through  the 
wall  of  rock  at  Cohoes  and  joins  the  Hudson.  At 


68  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

this  point  of  highest  value  in  military  strategy  was 
the  eastern  doorway  and  end  of  the  Long  House 
of  the  Six  Nations.  Through  this  gap  thousands 
of  young  and  hardy  emigrants  now  poured  out  from 
New  England  to  seek  more  fertile  land. 

This  rush  for  land  was  mightily  helped  by  Cupid. 
Love  and  enterprise  promoted  marriage  and  in 
creased  population.  Often  when  a  young  man 
would  propose  to  a  lady  friend  or  new  acquaint 
ance,  immediately,  should  her  answer  be  favorable, 
both  would  go  to  the  parson's,  be  joined  in  wedlock, 
and  on  the  same  day  set  out  for  "  the  Black  River 
country,"  or  further  west.  Often,  too,  the  young 
men  and  marriageable  maidens  in  the  wagon  cara 
vans  made  love  and  were  mated  on  the  way.  The 
church  records  of  marriages  at  the  stopping  places, 
in  Schenectady,  for  example,  show  how  busy  the 
dominies  were  kept  in  joining  in  wedlock  young 
couples  who  were  passing  through  and  westward. 
Fat  were  the  fees,  for  youth  and  hope  are  generous. 

From  the  Middle  States,  especially  New  Jersey, 
another  line  of  people  followed  the  Indian  trails 
northwestward  from  Easton,  which  Sullivan's  pio 
neers  had  first  chopped  wide  enough  to  admit  the 
artillery.  These  two  streams  from  the  east,  the 
middle,  and  the  southeast,  the  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Yankee,  met  at  Penn  Yan,  which  they  jointly 
named,  each  contributing  a  syllable. 


THE  MOVEMENT  BEYOND    THE   ALLEGHANIES.       69 

There  was  no  rest  in  Penn  Yan,  but  onward  went 
the  home-seekers  further  toward  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Pacific. 

There  was  a  famous  and  very  popular  song, 
which  began :  — 

"  Oh,  of  all  the  mighty  nations 
In  the  East  or  in  the  West, 
This  glorious  Yankee  nation 
Is  the  greatest  and  the  best. 

"  We  have  room  for  all  creation, 
And  our  banner  is  unfurled, 
Here's  a  general  invitation 
To  the  people  of  the  world. 

Chorus :   "  Come  along,  come  along,  make  no  delay, 

Come  from  every  nation,  come  from  every  way, 
Our  lands  they  are  broad  enough,  don't  be  alarmed, 
For  Uncle  Sam  is  rich  enough  to  give  us  all  a  farm." 

These  people  streaming  westward  in  the  North 
moved  parallel  with  the  grand  procession  begun  by 
Daniel  Boone  in  the  South,  which  kept  increasing. 
With  axe  and  rifle  they  crossed  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee.  Soon  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Cum 
berland  rose  groups  of  log  cabins,  cleared  spaces  in 
the  timber  with  smiling  fields  of  grain  in  the  bottom 
lands,  and,  not  very  much  later,  the  church  spire  and 
the  schoolhouse.  These  showed  the  beginnings  of 
new  states  and  the  promise  of  the  nation's  sure 


/O  THE  ROMANCE    OF   CONQUEST. 

expansion,  within  a  few  years,  to  the  Mississippi 
River. 

When  so  much  territory  was  to  be  occupied,  it 
was  highly  important  that  a  good  system  of  land 
measurement  and  allotment  should  be  formulated. 
Most  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  had  been 
paid  in  land  warrants.  Many  of  the  veterans  sold 
these  warrants  for  cash,  but  a  large  number  of  the 
young  and  strong  became  actual  settlers  on  their 
own  lands.  The  greatest  danger,  as  history  shows, 
is,  that  while  every  family  may  and  ought  to  have  a 
certain  inheritance  and  participate  in  the  benefits 
of  landed  property,  yet  sooner  or  later  the  soil  gets 
into  the  hands  of  a  few. 

In  Europe,  in  place  of  the  general  landholding 
or  common  lands  of  the  old  Teutonic  freemen 
through  ancient  times,  the  Middle  Ages  brought 
the  tenure  of  serfs,  and  the  noblemen  ruled  the 
country.  In  England,  by  a  remarkable  exception, 
the  land  law  of  the  nobles  became  the  land  law  of 
the  people.  In  the  United  States  the  public  lands 
were  a  fund  for  the  use  of  all  the  people,  a  source 
of  public  revenue  and  a  basis  of  national  finance. 
They  have  also  served  as  a  means  of  effecting  in 
ternal  improvements,  such  as  canals,  highways,  and 
levees,  for  the  building  of  great  roads  and  railways, 
and,  best  of  all,  for  the  promotion  of  education. 
As  early  as  1784  Hamilton  and  Jefferson  initiated 


THE  MOVEMENT  BEYOND    THE  ALLEGHANIES.       J\ 

measures  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present 
system  of  survey,  known  as  the  rectangular  system. 
As  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hamilton  in  1790 
furnished  the  basis  of  the  present  method  of  land 
administration.  It  seems  curious  that  the  best 
book  in  English  on  "  The  History  of  the  Land 
Question  in  the  United  States"  should  be  by  a 
Japanese,  Shosuke  Sato,  a  fellow  of  Johns  Hopkins 
University. 

It  was  Simeon  De  Witt,  surveyor  general  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  who  first  put  in  practice  and 
carried  out  the  details  of  that  method  of  land  meas 
urement  which,  borrowed  from  the  Empire  State, 
has  come  into  vogue  over  the  greater  part  of  the 
United  States.  Territory  is  divided  into  townships 
of  six  miles  square,  the  lines  running  due  north  and 
south,  with  others  crossing  these  at  right  angles. 
The  townships  are  subdivided  into  sections  of  one 
mile  square,  or  six  hundred  and  forty  acres.  Each 
township  contains  thirty-six  sections,  or  23,040  acres. 
Even  when  hills,  forests,  broken  or  worthless  land 
allow  only  a  partial  survey  of  part  of  a  township, 
the  sections  are  actually  laid  out  and  numbered 
from  south  to  north  and  the  ranges  from  east  to 
west. 

Simeon  De  Witt's  plan  took  the  place  of  that  one 
in  the  Ordinance  of  1787  which  had  "hundreds"  or 
squares  of  ten  geographical  miles  and  lots  of  one 


72  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

mile  square.  It  is  most  probable  that  De  Witt's 
system  was  imported  from  Holland  and  was  of 
Roman  origin.  After  his  many  years  of  labors 
and  wanderings  were  over,  De  Witt  named  his  own 
township  at  the  foot  of  Cayuga  Lake,  Ulysses,  and 
his  place  of  residence,  Ithaca. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  until  1820  this  great  mass 
of  emigrants  westward  were  native  Americans. 
They  were  not  Europeans.  From  1770  to  1785 
there  was  no  emigration  from  Europe  worth  speak 
ing  of.  Until  1820  the  number  of  immigrants 
averaged  only  about  eight  thousand  people  a  year. 
Land  was  very  cheap,  and  the  terms  of  sale  so 
liberal  that  settlers  could  often  pay  the  price  of 
their  farms  with  the  first  crops  gathered  from  their 
newly  broken  soil.  All  that  a  man  needed,  to  get 
a  whole  square  mile  of  land,  was  $331  in  cash. 
The  land  cost  only  two  dollars  an  acre.  One  need 
only  deposit  one-twentieth  of  #1280,  which  was  the 
price  of  a  section,  and  then  one-fourth  of  $1280, 
including  deposit,  within  forty  days.  The  other 
three-fourths  of  the  whole  amount  ($960)  could  be 
settled  for  within  four  years.  Fees  for  application, 
surveying,  etc.,  amounted  to  $11. 

So  began  the  great  American  Exodus,  properly 
following  the  Genesis  of  the  Constitution.  Often 
settlers  formed  great  companies  and  bought  millions 
of  acres,  taking  up  whole  townships  as  fast  as  the 


THE  MOVEMENT  BEYOND    THE  ALLEGHANIES.       73 

surveyors  could  locate.  They  bought  on  trust,  and 
sold  again  for  wheat,  for  lumber,  or  whatever  the 
land  would  yield.  Thus  it  was  that  true  American 
settlers,  natives  of  the  soil,  and  not  strange  foreign 
ers,  first  cut  down  our  forests,  bridged  our  rivers, 
and  built  up  towns.  In  spite  of  malaria  and  home 
sickness,  of  wild  beasts  and  other  "  vermin,"  these 
stalwart  Americans  replenished  the  earth,  and  laid 
the  foundations  for  larger  advantages  to  their 
descendants. 

To-day  the  old  virgin  forests  have  disappeared, 
the  beaver  dams  are  forgotten,  the  trout  brooks 
have  narrowed  or  dried  up,  and  the  face  of  the 
country  is  changed  almost  beyond  recognition. 
Yet  the  skilled  eye  can  find  the  site  of  old  leach- 
eries,  ash  pits,  limekilns,  lumbermen's  camps,  and 
other  primitive  forest  industries,  which  showed 
how  our  grandfathers  won  their  living  in  a  wild 
country,  getting  food,  money,  and  prosperity ; 
withal,  often  wasting,  like  spendthrifts,  the  re 
sources  of  the  soil. 

In  the  South  the  great  event  of  1793  was  the 
invention  of  the  saw-gin,  by  Eli  Whitney,  by  which 
the  seed  was  quickly  separated  from  cotton-wool. 
Before  his  time  a  man  could  with  his  fingers  and 
rollers  clean  about  a  pound  of  cotton  a  day;  or, 
with  the  Chinese  whip  and  bow,  a  little  more ;  but 
Whitney's  gin  equalled  in  amount  of  work  done 


74  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

that  of  three  thousand  pairs  of  human  hands.  The 
result  of  this  invention  was  to  make  the  raising  of 
this  vegetable  wool  the  most  profitable  of  all  crops. 
Cotton  covered  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  with 
snowy  balls,  riveted  slavery  upon  the  southern 
people,  started  hundreds  of  great  cotton  mills  in 
New  England,  created  a  class  interested  in  main 
taining  slave  labor,  and,  above  all,  enormously 
increased  our  foreign  trade.  Whereas,  in  1784, 
we  had  exported  only  three  thousand  pounds  of 
cotton,  we  began  within  ten  years  after  the  inven 
tion  to  export  more  than  forty  million  pounds. 
Soon  it  was  said,  "  cotton  is  king,"  for  whereas 
many  Asiatic  and  African  countries  had  been  sup 
plying  cotton,  Americans  by  their  inventive  power, 
added  to  the  peculiar  adaptedness  of  our  soil,  had 
won  away  the  culture  and  trade  of  the  cotton  plant 
so  as  to  make  it,  for  the  most  part,  a  distinctively 
American  production.  Now  we  supply  not  only 
Europe,  but  even  Japan.  Every  year  the  value 
and  demand  increase  for  this  wool  that  grows  out 
of  our  soil. 

But  while  this  Connecticut  schoolmaster,  sojourn 
ing  in  the  South,  took  the  seeds  quickly  out  of  cot 
ton,  he  gave  us  further  seed  of  long  troubles  and  of 
civil  war,  as  we  shall  see.  At  first  the  cotton  seeds 
were  thrown  away  as  useless  refuse.  Now,  by  the 
application  of  brain,  steam,  and  machinery,  they 


THE  MOVEMENT  BEYOND    THE  ALLEGHANIES.       75 

yield  oil,  soap,  food  for  cattle,  and  material  for  fer 
tilizers.  Presto!  By  the  magic  of  commerce,  the 
reputation  of  the  old  countries  and  the  fad  for  things 
foreign,  cotton-seed  oil,  after  a  trip  to  Europe  in 
bulk,  comes  back  in  bottles  duly  labelled,  in  Italian, 
as  "  olive  "  oil. 

The  romance  of  the  conquest  by  Americans  of 
trie-forces  of  nature,  for  the  subduing  and  replenish 
ing  of  the  earth,  is  a  long  story,  for  which  we  have 
not  room  in  this  volume.  It  soon  became  necessary 
for  Congress  to  provide  a  Patent  Office,  where  could 
be  shown  models  of  machines  that  would  work,  as 
well  as  for  the  storage  of  the  much  larger  number 
that  would  not. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

WAR    WITH    FRANCE    ON    THE    SEA. 

WHEN  John  Adams  became  President,  in  1797, 
it  looked  as  though  we  were  to  have  war  with 
France,  because  the  French  thought  that,  having 
aided  us  in  our  struggle  against  Great  Britain,  we 
ought  to  side  with  them.  Yet  Washington  had 
proclaimed  neutrality,  and  most  of  our  fathers  were 
with  him.  John  Adams  knew  also,  very  well,  as 
Washington  and  a  majority  of  the  nation,  that  the 
motives  of  the  French  in  helping  us  had  not  been 
like  those  of  the  Dutch,  —  sympathy  with  our  de 
sire  for  freedom  and  hope  of  trade  with  us,  —  but 
that  the  object  was  to  get  possession  of  Canada  and 
simply  to  do  harm  to  Great  Britain.  John  Adams 
had  already  plainly  told  Count  Vergennes  this. 
Furthermore,  the  American  idea  of  a  republic  is 
something  quite  different  from  the  French  and 
Spanish-American  notion. 

The  anger  of  the  disappointed  French  was  soon 
expressed  in  open  hostilities.  They  not  only  cap 
tured  our  provision  ships  and  sold  them,  but  they 
insulted  our  envoys.  Their  impudence  reached  its 

76 


WAR    WITH  FRANCE    ON   THE   SEA.  77 

climax  when  they  demanded  money  of  our  govern 
ment,  threatening  war  in  case  their  bullying  claims 
were  not  acceded  to.  The  Frenchmen  who  pro 
posed  this  bribery  were  ashamed  to  come  out  openly 
with  their  own  names  signed ;  so  they  resorted  to 
the  coward's  device  and  sent  the  meanest  of  all 
missives  —  anonymous  threatening  letters. 

The  reply  of  the  United  States  Minister  was  in 
stant.  It  was,  "No;  no;  no;  not  a  sixpence."  In 
this  he  was  sustained  by  the  whole  American  peo 
ple,  whose  cry  was,  "  Millions  for  defence ;  not  one 
cent  for  tribute."  Mr.  C.  C.  Pinckney,  the  envoy, 
had  been  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and 
a  framer  of  the  Constitution.  He  was  ordered  to 
leave  France.  From  this  time  forth  the  world 
learned,  as  the  Barbary  powers,  and  even  Great 
Britain  learned,  that  the  United  States  would  never 
buy  a  dishonorable  peace.  Though  the  Americans 
love  money,  they  love  honor  more. 

A  tremendous  wave  of  excitement  rolled  over  the 
country.  Two  new  songs  were  written,  "Adams 
and  Liberty,"  and  "  Hail,  Columbia,"  which  were 
sung  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Washington  was 
again  invited  to  take  command  of  the  army  which 
Congress  gave  power  to  the  President  to  increase. 

In  our  early  history  but  one  department  of  the 
government  had  the  oversight  of  war  both  on  land 
and  sea.  By  the  Act  of  Congress,  April  30,  1 798, 


78  THE   R  OAT  A  NCR   OF  CONQUEST. 

the  navy  department  was  organized  separately,  so  as 
to  be  no  longer,  as  before,  under  the  war  department. 
By  this  time  the  keels  had  been  laid  for  six  war 
ships,  three  carrying  forty-four,  and  three  thirty- 
eight  guns  each.  American  naval  constructors 
built  the  United  States,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
President,  on  original  models,  and  these  heavy  frig 
ates  proved  to  be  among  the  most  effective  ships  in 
the  world.  The  Constitution  is  the  most  historic. 
The  President  was  the  best  and  swiftest  sailer,  and 
the  United  States  was  the  first  vessel  to  get  into  the 
water  under  the  present  organization  of  the  navy. 

To  illustrate  the  methods  of  transportation  in 
those  days,  the  sheet  copper,  with  which  the 
President  was  to  be  sheathed,  was  rolled  at  Canton, 
Massachusetts,  and  then  transported  in  wagons 
drawn  by  oxen  that  carried  the  metal  to  Phila 
delphia.  In  that  city,  at  the  foot  of  Swanson 
Street,  she  was  launched  on  the  loth  of  July,  1797. 

Of  the  three  thirty-eight-gun  ships,  the  Chesa 
peake  was  by  sailors  considered  unlucky.  The 
Constellation  was  one  of  the  handsomest  of  ships. 
The  Congress  proved  to  have  been  one  of  the 
oldest  and  the  most  useful  in  the  whole  navy, 
when  her  old  age  had  come. 

On  the  nth  of  July,  1798,  the  new  marine  corps 
was  established  by  law,  in  place  of  the  old  one. 
Five  days  later,  in  the  same  year,  it  was  voted  that 


WAR    WITH  FRANCE    ON   THE   SEA.  79 

the  navy  of  the  United  States  should  consist  of 
thirty  active  cruisers.  About  the  same  time  Con 
gress  by  law  denounced  all  the  treaties  with  France, 
because  the  French  had  begun  depredations  upon 
our  commerce  and  made  themselves  our  enemy.  As 
war  was  looming  up,  Captain  Richard  Dale,  in  the 
Ganges,  —  the  first  man-of-war  to  get  to  sea  under 
the  new  navy  department,  —  was  ordered  to  capture 
French  cruisers  on  our  coast  or  to  recapture  their 
prizes.  At  this  time  the  new  frigates  were  not 
ready,  for  our  country  was  then  very  deficient  in 
guns,  naval  stores,  and  spars. 

When  the  Constellation  was  able  to  get  to  sea, 
she  was  put  under  the  command  of  Captain  Thomas 
Truxton.  The  first  vessel  made  a  prize  of  by  our 
navy  was  taken  by  the  United  States  sloop  of  war 
Delaware,  commanded  by  Captain  Decatur,  who 
captured  the  French  privateer  Le  Croyable.  The 
name  of  the  prize  was  changed  into  the  Retaliation, 
and  she  was  put  under  command  of  Lieutenant 
Bainbridge.  Pretty  soon  the  frigate  United  States, 
under  Captain  Barry,  got  to  sea. 

Now  began  the  real  education  of  our  officers  and 
the  deposit  of  those  traditions  which  are  a  part  of 
the  life  of  the  service.  There  was  no  naval  acad 
emy  then,  except  on  the  ship's  deck,  and  our  great 
commanders  often  began  as  boys  of  twelve.  The 
Constitution,  under  Captain  Samuel  Nicholson,  was 


80  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST, 

also  in  commission  by  July  20,  1797.  Then  our 
war-ships  convoyed  fleets  of  our  merchantmen 
safely  between  the  West  Indies  and  our  northern 
ports.  By  the  end  of  1798  we  had  twenty-three 
ships  of  war  afloat.  The  programme  of  naval  en 
largement  became  so  popular  that  several  national 
ships  were  built  by  subscription  in  different  cities 
and  presented  to  the  government. 

The  Retaliation  did  not  have  a  long  career  under 
the  American  flag.  She  was  captured  by  two 
French  frigates,  and  thus  both  sides,  French  and 
American,  had  made  captures  and  come  out  even. 
By  the  opening  of  the  year  1799  we  had  twenty- 
eight  war-ships  afloat.  Now  came  the  time  to  test 
the  merits  of  the  new  American  heavy  frigate,  for 
this  craft  was  of  a  novel  type.  Americans  have 
always  led  the  way  in  naval  designs. 

When,  on  the  9th  of  February,  Commodore 
Truxton  in  the  Constellation,  with  a  brave  and 
eager  crew,  fell  in  with  the  French  frigate  Insur- 
gente,  the  first  heavy  naval  combat  since  the  Revo 
lution  began.  The  Constellation  suffered  first  the 
loss  of  her  foretop  mast,  but  after  several  broad 
sides  got  where  she  could  rake  the  enemy.  After 
firing  three  broadsides  through  and  along  the  hull 
of  her  enemy,  she  shot  out  of  the  smoke,  wore 
round  and  was  again  ready  with  all  her  guns 
loaded  to  rake  the  Insurgente  from  stern  to  stem. 


IV AR    WITH  FRANCE    ON   THE   SEA.  8  I 

The  French  captain,  after  a  loss  of  seventy  men, 
seeing  his  peril,  struck  his  flag  at  3.30  P.M.,  and  the 
one  hour's  battle  ended. 

The  Constellation  had  but  three  men  wounded. 
One  man  was  run  through  by  his  own  officer,  for 
having  flinched  at  his  gun.  The  law  of  the  battle- 
deck  does  not  allow  of  cowardice,  lest  by  the 
default  of  one  the  whole  crew  should  be  panic- 
stricken,  and  defeat  be  made  certain.  Years  before, 
in  the  attack  on  Stony  Point,  one  of  Wayne's  men 
suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  an  officer  and  in  the 
same  way.  This  was  for  turning  aside  to  load  his 
musket  when  the  general  had  ordered  empty  guns 
and  cold  steel. 

The  first  lieutenant  of  the  Constellation,  John 
Rodgers,  afterward  commodore,  was  put  on  board 
the  Insurgente  with  eleven  men  to  take  the  prize  to 
St.  Kitts  in  the  West  Indies.  There  were  still 
173  of  the  French  crew  on  board  when  it  began  to 
blow,  and  darkness  coming  on  the  work  of  trans 
ferring  the  prisoners  had  to  stop  'and  the  two 
ships  separated  in  the  darkness.  With  the  decks 
still  covered  with  the  wreck  of  sails,  spars,  rigging, 
and  splintered  timber  left  by  the  battle,  dead  and 
wounded  lying  about  and  their  blood  running  out  of 
the  scuppers,  and  the  prisoners  expecting  to  rise  and 
recapture  their  ship,  Rodgers's  situation  was  awk 
ward  indeed.  He  kept  the  Frenchmen  below  and 


82  THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

set  armed  sentinels  during  the  three  days.  He 
finally  brought  the  Insurgente  to  St.  Kitts,  meet 
ing  the  Constellation  already  there. 

This  victory  awakened  tremendous  popularity  in 
favor  of  our  navy.  Lads  and  sailors  pressed  for 
ward  to  enlist,  and  the  young  men  of  our  best  fami 
lies  were  only  too  glad  to  get  commissions  as  mid 
shipmen.  The  government  began  a  career  of  well- 
planned  naval  expansion.  Captain  Preble  convoyed 
American  vessels  to  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  Then 
the  stars  and  stripes  were  first  seen  on  an  Ameri 
can  man-of-war  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
France  having  taken  Holland,  and  being  at  war 
with  England,  the  annual  Dutch  ship  from  Ba- 
tavia  to  Nagasaki  could  not  sail  under  Dutch 
colors.  So  the  American  Captain  Stewart  took 
her  to  Nagasaki  under  our  flag,  and  for  the  first 
time  the  sixteen  stars  and  thirteen  stripes  were 
mirrored  on  the  Black  Tide  of  Japan.  The  people 
in  the  land  of  Tycoon  and  Mikado  were  much 
interested  in  -the  "  flowery  flag." 

Congress  persevered  in  the  work  of  building 
up  a  superb  marine,  and  even  six  74-gun  ships 
were  contracted  for.  It  may  be  truly  said  that 
at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  navy 
made  as  brilliant  a  record  as  it  has  done  at  its 
close.  The  six  heavy  frigates  were  afloat,  and  there 
were  altogether  in  the  West  India  waters  or  nearer 


WAR    WITH  FRANCE    ON   THE   SEA.  83 

home  twenty-five  men-of-war,  one  of  them  being 
the  old  Insurgente  refitted.  The  cruising  fleet 
was  divided  into  two  squadrons,  one  under  Com 
modore  Talbot,  who  had  ten,  and  the  other  under 
Commodore  Truxton,  who  had  as  many  more. 
Nevertheless  the  seas  were  swarming  with  Gallic 
cruisers  and  privateers,  and  our  commerce  suffered. 
This  was  the  era  of  the  French  "  Spoliations."  I 
could  tell  many  "tales  of  a  grandfather"  who  had 
experience  of  capture  and  loss. 

On  the  ist  of  February,  1800,  Commodore  Trux 
ton,  in  the  Constellation,  fell  in  with  the  French 
frigate,  Vengeance,  with  fifty-two  guns  and  five  hun 
dred  men.  Putting  on  all  sail,  Truxton  came  up 
to  hail  the  Frenchman,  when  the  latter  opened  fire 
from  his  stern  and  port  guns.  A  battle  began 
which  lasted  from  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  until 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then  the  French 
ship,  having  lost  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  killed 
and  wounded,  drew  off.  The  Constellation,  losing 
her  main  mast,  which  went  overboard,  was  unable  to 
make  chase.  The  Vengeance  got  into  Cura9oa  dis 
masted  and  in  a  sinking  condition.  This  battle 
added  tremendously  to  the  reputation  of  Truxton 
and  our  navy. 

Another  brilliant  action  was  the  capture  of  a 
French  privateer,  the  Sandwich,  formerly  of  Eng 
lish  ownership,  at  Port  Platte,  by  a  party  of  seamen 


84  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  marines  in  the  sloop  Sally,  led  by  Lieuten 
ant  Hull  of  the  Constitution^  who  afterward  com 
manded  this  famous  ship.  Later  the  Insurgente 
sailed  on  a  cruise.  She  must  have  foundered  at 
sea,  for  nothing  was  ever  heard  of  her.  This  made 
the  fourth  ship  of  the  American  navy  lost  in  this 
way.  There  were  a  good  many  minor  conflicts  at 
sea  and  captures  of  French  privateers  by  our  ves 
sels  during  this  naval  war  with  France.  Never 
theless  Napoleon  Bonaparte  saw  that  there  was  no 
real  ground  of  hostilities  between  the  two  nations 
that  had  lately  been  allies.  Overthrowing  the  gov 
ernment  at  Paris,  he  became  first  consul  and  pro 
posed  peace.  On  the  3d  of  February,  1801,  the 
treaty  of  amity  with  France  was  ratified  by  the  Sen 
ate,  and  a  man-of-war,  well  named  the  Herald,  was 
sent  to  the  West  Indies  to  recall  all  our  armed 
ships. 

Thus  ended  this  short  and  irregular  war  with 
France,  in  which  our  naval  officers  were  trained 
to  enterprise  and  action.  This  campaign  was  only 
the  prelude  to  the  splendid  naval  drama  on  the 
Mediterranean. 

No  one  saw  more  clearly  than  Napoleon  the 
future  of  the  American  people.  No  one  believed 
more  surely  in  the  time,  not  far  away,  when  the 
United  States  should  first  be  the  commercial  rival 
and  then  the  superior  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  no 


WAR    WITH  FRANCE    ON  THE   SEA.  85 

wonder,  then,  that  as  soon  as  this  "  man  of  destiny  " 
came  in  power,  he  made  peace  with  the  United 
States.  Furthermore,  he  was  soon  ready  to  sell 
out  all  French  claims  to  territory  in  America.  And 
so,  to  this  Corsican  dictator  we  owe  it  that  our 
territory  was  doubled  and  our  country  began  the 
policy  of  continued  national  expansion.  When 
Washington  died,  in  1799,  Bonaparte  ordered  pub 
lic  mourning  for  him  in  France,  though  the  British 
also  lowered  their  flags  to  half  mast.  Our  war  with 
France  was  the  first  war  under  the  new  Constitution. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

OUR    NAVY    IN    THE    MEDITERRANEAN. 

WHILE  our  country  was  so  young  and  weak, 
it  had  not  yet  made  its  flag  respected  on 
the  high  seas,  and  especially  in  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  A  line  of  robber  nations,  from  Egypt  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  held  North  Africa  and  dominated 
the  seacoast.  These  Barbary  states  were  Tunis, 
Tripoli,  Morocco,  and  Algiers.  The  pirates  were 
Mohammedans,  and  thought  they  were  doing  God 
service  in  robbing  Christian  ships,  making  their 
crews  prisoners,  and  then  holding  them  as  slaves 
or  for  ransom.  They  had  heavily  armed,  fast  sail 
ing  vessels,  called  corsairs,  which  swooped  like 
hawks  upon  their  prey.  Thus  they  grew  rich  on 
their  villanous  work.  Even  strong  European  na 
tions  had  to  bribe  these  fanatical  robbers.  Our 
government  paid  the  Dey  of  Tripoli  many  thou 
sand  dollars  a  year  to  allow  our  ships  to  pass  his 
coast.  Having  no  navy,  we  could  not  fight  or  de 
fend  ourselves. 

These  Barbary  powers  at  first,  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  had  carried  on   this  naval  warfare  for  what 

86 


OUR  NAVY  IN   THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  8/ 

they  called  religion.  Then  finding  such  "  religion  " 
very  profitable,  they  kept  it  up,  for  both  their  con 
science'  and  pocket's  sake.  Before  the  Revolu 
tion,  our  annual  trade  in  the  Mediterranean,  which 
amounted  to  twenty  thousand  tons  a  year,  was  pro 
tected  by  passes  from  the  British  government  at 
London.  After  our  independence  was  gained  our 
young  and  weak  nation  had  to  guard  against  these 
new  enemies  —  the  piratical  Moors. 

As  in  1898,  so  in  1785,  it  was  "  the  Maine  "  that 
began  the  war.  A  schooner  of  that  name  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Dey  of  Algiers  and  her  crew  imprisoned 
as  slaves.  Other  captures  followed.  In  1792  Wash 
ington  proposed  a  treaty  with  Algiers,  which  was 
to  pay  #40,000  as  a  ransom  for  the  thirteen  Ameri 
cans  then  held  captive,  $25,000  as  a  present  to  the 
Dey  on  putting  his  signature  to  the  treaty,  and 
$25,000  a  year  annually.  Admiral  Paul  Jones  was 
given  charge  of  the  negotiations,  but  unfortunately 
he  died  at  this  time.  Soon  after  this  the  Algerine 
fleet  captured  ten  of  our  vessels,  and  in  November, 
1793,  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifteen  American 
prisoners  in  Algiers  alone.  Yet,  although  our  fel 
low-countrymen  had  been  seized  and  worked  in 
chain  gangs  as  slaves,  our  country,  instead  of  pun 
ishing  the  rascals,  kept  bleating  like  a  fat  sheep. 
The  government  had  to  ask  the  churches  and  Chris 
tian  people  to  take  up  collections  during  hours  of 


88  THE   KO.lf.LVCE    OF  COXQUEST. 

worship,  to  raise  money  to  pay  ransoms.  Mean 
while  the  proud  thieves  became  more  insolent  and 
demanded  more. 

The  firing  of  salutes  is  the  wasteful  etiquette 
observed  between  ships  of  different  nations  and 
recognition  of  officers  of  high  rank.  It  costs  more 
every  year  to  burn  powder  thus  foolishly  than  it 
does  to  support  Christian  missionaries  all  over  the 
world.  In  1797  it  was  proposed,  on  the  side  of  the 
Bey  of  Tunis,  that  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  should 
be  given  the  Tunisian  government  for  every  gun 
fired  in  saluting  an  American  ship  of  war.  To 
this  our  envoy  Barlow  objected,  though  the  Bey 
insisted  upon  it,  because,  he  said,  "  fifteen  barrels 
of  gunpowder  will  furnish  a  cruiser,  which  may 
capture  a  prize  and  net  me  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars."  The  consul  replied  that  "  the  concession 
was  so  degrading  that  our  nation  would  not  yield 
to  it,  —  both  justice  and  honor  forbade, — and  we  did 
not  doubt  the  world  would  view  the  demand  as  they 
did  the  concession."  "  You  consult  your  honor," 
said  he ;  "  I  my  interest ;  but  if  you  wish  to  save 
your  honor  in  this  instance,  give  me  fifty  barrels 
of  powder  annually  and  I  will  agree  to  the  altera 
tion."  This  treaty  with  Tunis  cost  us  $107,000, 
and  up  to  1802  our  diplomacy  with  these  marauders 
amounted  to  over  $2,000,000  —  enough  to  have 
built  twenty  large  frigates.  Indeed,  half  of  this 


OUR   NAVY  IN   THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  89 

amount,  properly  invested  in  good  American  men- 
of-war  and  the  pay  of  our  brave  sailors,  would  have 
saved  us  the  degradation  of  handing  over  bribery 
money  during  many  years,  for  then  we  should  have 
had  peace,  without  paying  a  single  dollar  for  either 
tribute  or  ransom. 

As  matter  of  fact  our  treaties  with  the  Barbary 
nations  amounted  to  nothing  until  we  sent  a  naval 
force  into  the  Mediterranean.  For  each  one  of  the 
Mohammedan  robbers  demanded  as  much  money 
as  the  others  did,  and  during  all  the  negotiations 
the  United  States  were  put  on  a  level  with  Sweden. 
The  more  the  barbarians  were  paid,  the  more  they 
wanted. 

Mr.  William  Eaton,  United  States  Consul  at 
Tunis,  accompanied  our  first  squadron  of  four 
vessels  and  was  presented  to  the  Dey.  He  thus 
describes  that  ruler's  private  audience  room,  twelve 
by  eight  feet  in  size :  "  Here  [in  the  narrow  dark 
entry,  leading  to  the  room]  we  took  off  our  shoes 
and  entering  the  cave  (for  so  it  seemed)  with  small 
apertures  of  light,  with  iron  gates,  we  were  shown 
to  a  large,  huge,  shaggy  beast,  sitting  on  his  rump 
upon  a  low  bench,  covered  with  a  cushion  of  em 
broidered  velvet,  with  his  hind  legs  gathered  up 
like  a  tailor  or  a  bear.  On  our  approach  to  him 
he  reached  out  his  forepaw  as  if  to  receive  some 
thing  to  eat.  Our  guide  exclaimed  '  kiss  the  Dey's 


QO  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

hand ! '  The  Consul-General  bowed  very  elegantly 
and  kissed  it,  and  we  followed  his  example  in  suc 
cession.  The  animal  seemed  at  that  moment  to 
be  in  a  harmless  mood ;  he  grinned  several  times, 
but  made  very  little  noise.  After  standing  a  few 
moments  in  silent  agony,  the  American  company 
left  the  den,  without  any  other  hindrance  than  the 
humiliation  of  being  obliged,  in  this  involuntary 
manner,  to  violate  the  second  command  of  God 
and  offend  common  decency." 

The  little  American  frigate  George  Washington 
was  in  the  harbor  of  Algiers  in  October,  1800,  when 
the  Dey  demanded  of  the  American  Consul  the 
privilege  of  using  this  vessel  to  carry  his  ambassador 
to  the  port  of  Constantinople,  with  the  customary 
presents.  He  threatened  war,  plunder,  and  devasta 
tion  unless  his  demands  were  satisfied.  So  weak  and 
low  had  we  become  in  the  eyes  of  these  barbarians, 
that  the  captain  of  the  George  Washington  had  to 
hoist  the  flag  of  Algiers  at  the  main  top  and  salute 
it  with  seven  guns.  However,  this  little  war  vessel, 
which  went  to  Constantinople,  was  the  first  to  show 
the  American  flag  in  the  Bosphorus,  and  thus  the 
thirteen  stripes  and  sixteen  stars  were  reflected  on 
the  waters  of  eastern  Europe. 

Yet  no  benefit  came  from  our  degradation.  The 
Dey  was  a  sharp  bargain  maker,  declaring  that  the 
naval  stores  were  not  up  to  the  mark.  Instead  of 


OUR   NAVY  IN    THE   MEDITERRANEAN.  91 

reckoning  by  the  Christian  calendar,  he  computed 
according  to  the  Mohammedan  years,  and  by  the 
year  1812  found  our  government  deficient  to  the 
amount  of  $27,000,  by  which  time  we  had  paid 
about  $379,000. 

When  the  Bashaw  of  Tripoli  found  that  the 
United  States  government  had  bribed  the  Dey  of 
Algiers  at  a  higher  price  than  himself,  he  behaved 
like  a  dissatisfied  small  boy.  This  Oriental  Oliver 
Twist  clamored  for  more  presents  and  money. 
These  not  coming  when  expected,  he  cut  down  the 
flagstaff  of  the  American  Consulate  May  14,  1801, 
and  began  war. 

Finally  our  government  took  measures  to  protect 
American  citizens  even  beyond  the  ocean.  Captain 
Dale  was  sent  with  the  three  frigates,  President, 
Philadelphia,  and  Essex,  and  the  gunboat  Enter 
prise.  These  arrived  at  Gibraltar  in  time  to  keep 
two  Tripolitan  ships  of  war  from  getting  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  prey  on  our  commerce.  The 
presence  of  our  navy  had  more  influence  in  main 
taining  peace  than  if  the  frigate  George  Washington 
had  come  again  laden  with  tribute. 

The  first  trial  of  prowess  between  the  Turks  and 
Americans  was  when  the  Enterprise  fell  in  with  a 
Tripolitan  corsair,  then  out  on  a  predatory  cruise. 
The  Turk,  after  fighting  a  while,  struck  his  flag 
but  hoisted  it  again,  thinking  to  gain  an  advantage. 


92  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

After  three  hours'  battle,  the  American  fire  had 
been  so  destructive  that  the  Turkish  captain  threw 
his  colors  into  the  sea,  and  asked  for  quarter.  Fifty 
men  on  the  pirate  ship  had  been  killed  or  wounded, 
while  on  the  Enterprise  was  not  a  man  hurt.  Our 
men  first  attended  to  the  wounded,  and  then  threw 
the  Turks'  guns  overboard,  gave  the  ship  a  sail  and 
spar,  and  allowed  the  crew  to  go  back  to  Tripoli. 
Yet  the  Tripolitan  captain's  bravery,  and  even  his 
wounds,  did  not  avail  with  the  Dey.  He  was  placed 
on  a  jackass,  ridden  through  the  streets,  and  then 
given  the  bastinado. 

Our  vessels  blockaded  Tripoli  and  kept  the  cor 
sairs  from  coming  out,  but  the  Dey,  caring  nothing 
for  his  own  people,  would  exchange  no  prisoners. 
He  still  held  the  American  captives,  hoping  for 
large  ransom.  In  1802  another  fine  squadron,  under 
Commodore  Morris,  kept  up  the  blockade,  but  little 
was  accomplished,  and  the  Moors  kept  up  their 
piratical  activity.  On  August  26,  1803,  the  Phila 
delphia  captured  the  Meshboha,  belonging  to  the 
Emperor  of  Morocco,  but,  on  October  3ist,  while 
chasing  a  Tripolitan  vessel,  ran  hard  and  high  upon 
the  rocks,  where  she  was  wedged  fast.  Though 
everything  was  done  to  lighten  her,  the  ship  could 
not  be  got  off.  No  other  American  vessel  was  near 
to  help,  and  under  the  attack  of  nine  gunboats  our 
flag  was  hauled  down.  The  Americans  were  robbed 


OUR  NAVY  IN   THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  93 

and  plundered,  and  Captain  Bainbridge  and  his  men 
were  thrown  into  prison.  The  Divan  was  highly 
elated  and  expected  large  ransom.  Things  looked 
dark  for  the  Americans. 

Commodore  Preble,  one  of  the  first  and  greatest 
educators  of  the  United  States  navy,  was  put  in 
command  of  the  American  forces  in  the  Mediterra 
nean.  To  prevent  the  Philadelphia  from  being 
refitted  as  a  piratical  corsair,  Decatur,  with  brave 
officers  and  a  picked  crew  of  seventy  men,  boldly 
planned  to  run  in  at  night  and  set  the  frigate  on 
fire. 

This  scheme  was  carried  out  on  a  moonlight 
night.  Our  men  lay  concealed  on  the  ketch  Intrepid, 
and  the  Turks,  thinking  the  boat  was  a  Maltese 
trading  vessel,  were  completely  surprised.  Decatur 
sprang  on  board,  leading  his  men.  They  cleared 
the  spar  deck  by  driving  the  Turks  into  the  sea, 
and  won  complete  victory  after  a  struggle  below. 
Then  the  combustibles  were  passed  up,  the  ship 
set  on  fire  in  a  dozen  places,  and  soon  masts  and 
rigging  made  glowing  columns  and  capitals  of  fire. 
Indeed,  the  Americans  themselves  barely  escaped 
from  the  flames.  The  spirit  of  the  United  States 
nayy  rose  high,  and  our  merchant  vessels,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  general  war  then  prevailing  in  Europe, 
began  again  to  "  whiten  the  seas  of  the  Old  World 
with  American  commerce." 


94  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

On  August  3,  1804,  Commodore  Preble,  with  7 
men-of-war,  2  bomb-vessels,  and  6  gunboats  manned 
by  1060  men,  bombarded  the  forts  and  fought  the 
enemy's  war-ships.  In  the  harbor  were  115  cannon 
mounted  in  battery,  19  gunboats,  and  5  men-of-war. 
Besides  the  science  and  skill  shown  by  Preble, 
his  officers,  Decatur,  Somers,  Trippe,  Bainbridge, 
Thorne,  McDonough,  Henley,  Ridley,  and  Miller, 
won  fame  and  distinction,  while  the  Constitution 
revealed  her  splendid  qualities  both  as  a  sailer 
and  a  floating  fortress.  There  were  hand-to-hand 
fights,  and  2  boats  were  captured  by  Decatur,  which 
had  on  board  80  men,  of  whom  52  were  killed  or 
wounded.  With  1 1  Americans,  Lieutenant  Trippe 
boarded  and  captured  another  vessel  having  a  crew 
thrice  as  large  in  number  as  his  own. 

Several  points  were  made  prominent  in  this  battle: 
first,  the  superiority  of  the  American  gunnery,  and, 
second,  the  courage  and  effectiveness  of  our  men  in 
boarding.  The  muscular  Mussulmans  had  always 
supposed  that  they  excelled  and  were  invincible  with 
the  pike  and  cimeter.  Besides  the  three  gunboats 
taken,  three  more  were  sunk,  and  the  batteries  were 
badly  damaged. 

Other  bombardments  followed,  but  we  had  no 
land  forces  to  reduce  the  fortified  city,  and  the  Dey 
still  insisted  on  a  ransom  of  $500  apiece  for  his 
prisoners. 


OUR   NAVY  IN   THE   MEDITERRANEAN.  95 

In  the  old  naval  warfare,  and  until  well  into  the 
present  century,  great  reliance  was  placed  upon  fire- 
ships,  or  floating  mines,  for  submarine  mines  were 
at  that  time  unknown.  Captain  Somers  offered  to 
take  in  a  bomb-ketch  close  to  the  shipping  and 
batteries  and  blow  them  up.  The  Intrepid  was 
loaded  with  powder  and  combustibles,  and  called  an 
"  infernal,"  and  great  things  were  expected  of  this 
"  hell-burner."  But  although  manned  by  brave  and 
cool  men,  the  Intrepid  blew  up  prematurely,  and  all 
on  board  perished.  Whether  by  shots  from  the 
enemy,  or  by  accident,  or  to  avoid  capture,  is  un 
known,  for  no  one  survived  to  tell  how  or  why.  "A 
sad  and  solemn  mystery,  after  all  our  conjectures, 
must  forever  veil  the  fate  of  these  fearless  officers 
and  their  hardy  followers." 

The  name  of  Somers  became  a  battle-cry,  and 
has  been  given  to  our  ships  of  war.  Had  the 
Intrepid  succeeded,  there  would  have  been  peace 
within  twenty-four  hours ;  but  since  it  failed,  the 
barbarian  ruler  still  hoped  that  the  Americans 
would  submit  to  capture  and  give  ransom,  rather 
than  pay  money  for  a  navy  so  far  from  home.  On 
the  contrary,  our  squadron  was  kept  up. 

Then  came  the  affair  of  General  Eaton,  who,  with 
a  motley  force,  captured  Derne,  and  the  treaty  of 
1805,  which  was  of  no  special  credit  to  our  govern 
ment.  As  a  naval  campaign,  the  war  in  the  Medi- 


96  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

terranean  was,  in  its  results,  at  least  respectable ; 
while  as  a  school  for  the  forming  and  education 
of  the  United  States  navy,  these  four  years  of  ex 
perience  in  the  Mediterranean  were  of  incalculable 
value,  and  later  we  shall  see  good  results. 


CHAPTER   X. 

DOUBLING    THE    NATIONAL    DOMAIN. 

A  MERICAN  diplomacy  really  began  with  the 
**  mission  of  Franklin  to  France  in  1776.  Other 
envoys  were  despatched,  such  as  John  Adams,  Silas 
Deane,  and  Henry  Laurens.  Dr.  Franklin,  by  his 
wit  and  wisdom,  by  his  eminence  in  science  and 
philosophy,  and  by  his  unique  and  commanding 
personality,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
Bourbon  court,  and  especially  of  the  elegant  ladies 
of  Paris  and  Versailles,  made  a  signal  success.  He 
obtained  from  the  French  money,  ships,  an  army, 
and  loans,  besides  commissioning  privateers  and 
securing  the  services  of  John  Paul  Jones.  One  of 
the  pleasant  surprises  to  the  American  visiting 
France  is  to  see  so  often  the  portraits  of  "  Poor 
Richard." 

John  Adams  was  successful,  especially  in  Hol 
land,  where  he  secured  recognition  of  the  United 
States  and  loans  of  money.  These,  when  paid  up 
in  1829,  amounted  in  principal  and  interest  to 
$14,000,000.  While  our  various  American  envoys 
were  in  Europe,  much  real  sympathy  with  our 

H  97 


98  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

country  was  awakened.  Not  a  few  Frenchmen  and 
Dutchmen  made  real  personal  sacrifices  in  behalf 
of  American  freedom;  but  in  the  great  flock  of 
European  adventurers  that  offered  to  serve  in  our 
cause,  and  to  accept  commissions  in  the  army, 
many  were  worthless  characters.  Not  a  few  duels 
were  fought  between  French  and  American  officers, 
for  our  men  could  not  stand  the  aristocratic  airs  of 
these  supercilious  servants  of  the  Bourbon  and  other 
monarchies.  Congress  was  only  too  ready  to  com 
mission  these  soldiers  of  fortune  whom  Silas  Deane 
recommended ;  but  Washington  did  not  like  the 
policy  of  employing  many  foreigners.  He  wrote 
that  if  our  liberties  were  to  be  achieved,  the  war 
must  be  fought  and  the  victories  won  by  Americans 
if  at  all.  As  for  Spain,  we  got  no  help  from  her  as 
an  ally,  and  it  was  well  for  us  that  we  did  not.  The 
one  European  people  that  from  first  to  last  really 
sympathized  with  us  were  the  Dutch,  whose  history 
was  so  much  like  our  own. 

Our  national  diplomacy  under  the  Constitution 
began  when  John  Jay  was  sent  by  Washington,  in 
J795'  to  make  a  new  treaty,  because  the  treaty  of 
1783  had  not  been  carried  out  properly  by  either 
party,  British  or  American.  Our  people  did  not 
keep  their  word  and  pay  their  debts.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  British  government,  besides  hampering 
our  trade  with  France,  kept  the  Indians  in  hostility 


DOUBLING    THE   NATIONAL   DOMAIN.  99 

to  us,  and  would  not  give  up  the  forts  along  the 
northern  frontier,  as  had  been  promised.  The 
treaty  which  John  Jay  secured  was  very  unpopular 
with  our  grandfathers,  who  were  greedy  enough  in 
wanting  to  get  more  than  they  really  deserved ;  while 
on  their  part  the  British  tried  to  use  us  as  their 
unwilling  ally  against  France,  and  interfered  unlaw 
fully  with  our  commerce. 

By  the  Jay  treaty  the  eastern  boundary  of  Maine 
was  settled,  our  citizens  recovered  about  $10,000,000 
for  illegal  captures  by  British  ships  of  war,  and 
the  western  forts  held  by  British  garrisons  were 
surrendered  to  us.  This  was  all  very  fine  for 
our  side,  but  to  offset  these  advantages  our  trading 
ships  were  shut  out  from  Canadian  ports,  and  placed 
under  restrictions  in  the  West  Indies,  while  nothing 
was  said  about  impressing  our  sailors  in  the  British 
navy,  nor  anything  about  neutrality,  as  between  the 
French  and  British  privateers,  for  the  British  gov 
ernment  refused  to  settle  these  matters. 

So  a  tremendous  excitement  ensued.  Public 
meetings  were  held  denouncing  Washington.  At 
Boston,  Jay  was  burned  in  effigy,  but  was  neverthe 
less  made  Governor  of  New  York  for  six  years,  and 
under  his  auspices  slavery  was  abolished  in  the 
Empire  State.  Washington  approved  the  treaty, 
because  he  thought  it  was  the  best  which  we  could 
at  that  time  obtain ;  for  weak  nations  could  not 


TOO  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

then,  and  perhaps  cannot  now,  be  treated  on  equal 
terms  with  more  powerful  nations.  Our  country 
was  puny,  but  alive  and  growing,  and  unable  as  yet 
to  compel  the  respect  of  the  great  nations  of  Europe, 
then  in  conflict  with  each  other.  The  War  of  1812, 
which  on  the  ocean  gathered  in  for  our  heroes  a 
sheaf  of  British  flags,  was  necessary  to  compel  Great 
Britain  to  respect  us.  No  one  more  than  an  Eng 
lishman  respects  you  when  you  beat  him  in  a  fair 
fight. 

When  Jefferson  became  President,  the  capital 
had  been  removed  from  Philadelphia  to  Washing 
ton,  which  was  then  a  little  village  in  the  midst  of 
a  ten-mile  tract  of  land  covered  with  woods.  In 
stead  of  being  built  to  face  the  future  and  the 
splendid  city  of  to-day,  the  fagade  of  the  capital 
confronted  a  little  straggling  village  where  the  "  old 
families  "  were  supposed  to  live. 

The  idea  of  having  a  capital  in  a  district  which 
had  no  vote  in  Congress,  and  in  which  no  individ 
ual  could  vote,  in  either  state  or  national  elections, 
without  going  home  to  his  birthplace  or  residence, 
was  borrowed  from  the  Hague  in  the  Dutch  republic. 
Washington  and  Adams,  who  were  the  stadholders, 
that  is,  holders  of  power  in  place  of  American  peo 
ple,  had  imitated  a  little  the  manners  and  ceremo 
nies  of  kings.  President  Washington  had,  especially, 
put  on  great  state  and  dignity  both  at  official  recep- 


DOUBLING    THE  NATIONAL   DOMAIN.  IOI 

tions  and  at  social  balls,  and  in  attending  and  going 
from  church.  The  "  Republican  Court  "  was  a  scene 
of  great  splendor  and  dignity. 

As  I  have  heard  my  grandmother  and  grand- 
aunts  tell,  President  Washington  would  be  driven 
in  a  coach  and  six  horses  to  Old  Christ  Church, 
on  Second  Street,  above  Market,  in  Philadelphia. 
Dressed  in  black  velvet,  waited  upon  by  his  obse 
quious  lackeys  and  footmen,  and  driven  by  Fritz, 
his  famous  Hessian  coachman,  he  made  a  great 
show  of  pomp  and  splendor,  which  not  only  the 
boys  and  girls,  but  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the 
capital  city,  delighted  in  viewing. 

Jefferson,  who  had  democratic  ideas  that  emerged 
during  the  French  Revolution,  dressed  more  plainly 
and  cared  little  for  display,  while  at  the  same  time 
fashions  were  tending  toward  the  simpler  style  of 
to-day.  Besides  the  great  change  from  silk  waist 
coat,  lace  ruffs  and  wristlets,  knee-breeches,  silk 
stockings  and  silver  buckles,  men  were  beginning 
to  wear  trousers,  and  their  coats  and  hats  were  more 
like  those  of  our  time.  Jefferson  carried  his  simpler 
manners  and  habits  to  the  capital  and  in  the  execu 
tive  mansion.  This  was  not  the  present  White 
House,  but  one  which  had  been  occupied  by  Presi 
dent  Adams,  and  which  was  burned  by  the  British 
in  1814. 

It  was  under  Jefferson  that  the  great  expansion 


102  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

programme,  now  over  a  century  old  and  yet  unfin 
ished,  began  to  be  carried  out.  A  study  of  the  facts 
shows  that  the  thoughts  of  Americans  "  widened 
with  the  process  of  the  suns."  In  colonial  days  a 
road  had  been  made  from  Plymouth,  nine  miles 
westward,  which  there  stopped,  it  not  being  then 
supposed  that  any  regular  travel  further  westward 
would  ever  be  needed.  In  1690  the  village  of 
Schenectady  was  spoken  of  as  "  in  the  far  West." 
A  hundred  years  later  the  removal  of  the  capital  to 
Washington  was  opposed  as  being  "  too  far  toward 
the  setting  sun."  In  Jefferson's  time  many  able 
men  shook  their  heads  at  the  idea  of  the  republic 
extending  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  Many  also  sup 
posed  that  in  time  the  different  sections  would  break 
up  into  nations.  Indeed,  it  is  no  wonder  that  good 
and  wise  men  held  these  views,  for  then  it  took 
more  time  to  go  from  Baltimore  to  Pittsburg  than 
is  now  required  to  reach  Europe,  or  to  travel  from 
California  to  Hawaii.  From  San  Francisco  one  can 
reach  the  Philippines  more  easily  and  more  quickly, 
than  even  the  swiftest  and  bravest  hunter  could  get 
from  Philadelphia  to  the  Mississippi  River. 

Yet  even  while  men  were  thus  thinking  and  talk 
ing,  the  very  ones  who  believed  in  having  a  country 
no  wider  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  were 
staggered  with  the  proposition  to  buy  the  very  heart 
of  the  American  continent,  between  the  Mississippi 


DOUBLING    THE   NATIONAL   DOMAIN.  103 

River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  France  owned 
this  territory  called  Louisiana,  named  by  La  Salle, 
its  discoverer,  after  Louis  XIV  and  his  queen. 
Instead  of  being  the  district  still  retaining  the  name, 
it  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Canada. 
Out  of  this  vast  region  watered  by  the  Red,  the 
Arkansas,  and  the  Missouri  rivers  and  their  tribu 
taries,  over  a  dozen  states  and  territories  have  been 
made. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  had  determined  on  ruling, 
if  possible,  all  Europe,  and  on  bringing  even  Great 
Britain  under  subjugation.  For  this  gigantic  task 
he  needed  plenty  of  money.  Moreover,  he  feared 
the  capture  of  Louisiana  by  the  British  fleet.  So 
when  the  offer  to  sell  was  made,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
though  not  liking  the  idea  of  national  enlargement, 
and  stretching  his  constitutional  power,  as  he  him 
self  confessed,  "  till  it  cracked,"  bought  a  million 
square  miles,  or  over  six  hundred  millions  of  acres, 
at  two  and  a  half  cents  an  acre,  and  Napoleon  got 
$15,000,000.  Thus  all  possible  disputes  with  France 
were  removed  out  of  politics ;  England  would  never 
control  the  Mississippi  Valley;  the  great  West  be 
came  ours  and  opened  to  our  settlers.  The  grandest 
river  and  valley  on  the  continent,  with  the  precious 
jewel  of  the  Crescent  City,  came  under  the  Ameri 
can  flag,  then  glistening  with  seventeen  stars.  Our 
national  domain  was  doubled. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

WHY    A    SECOND    WAR    FOR    FREEDOM    WAS    FOUGHT. 

JEFFERSON'S  plan  of  defending  our  Atlantic 
coast  by  a  flotilla  of  little  gunboats  seems  very 
amusing  to-day  when  we  think  of  the  proud  and 
powerful  nations  of  France  and  Great  Britain. 
These  were  then  at  war,  and  in  their  fighting  they 
cared  very  little  about  the  rights  of  smaller  coun 
tries.  Each  went  so  far  as  to  forbid  Americans  to 
trade  with  the  other.  Great  Britain  demanded  the 
right  to  stop  our  ships  and  search  them,  in  order 
to  get  British  sailors.  Every  man  who  could  not 
prove  his  American  citizenship  was  dragged  away 
and  forced  to  enter  the  British  service. 

The  success  of  the  British,  especially  after  Nel 
son's  victories  and  Trafalgar,  had  transformed  many 
English  captains  into  genuine  bullies.  Indeed,  this 
is  the  usual  effect  of  most  successful  wars,  —  to  fill 
the  victors  with  inordinate  pride,  —  and  it  is  one 
reason  why  war  ought  to  cease  from  the  earth. 
Several  thousand  men  were  taken  off  our  ships  in 
this  way,  and  things  seemed  to  be  going  on  from  bad 
to  worse,  when  an  event  took  place  through  which 

104 


WHY  A  SECOND    IV A R   FOR  FREEDOM   WAS  FOUGHT.     105 

Providence  taught  our  country  and  the  American 
navy  a  bitter,  but  a  very  wholesome,  lesson.  It 
was  the  first  and  the  last  time  that  an  American 
man-of-war  was  fired  on  without  response. 

The  United  States  frigate  Chesapeake  had  sailed 
for  Hampton  Roads,  and  was  hailed  by  a  British 
war  vessel  Leopard.  Officers  came  on  board  to 
muster  the  Chesapeake  s  crew,  to  see  if  there  were 
any  of  their  sailors  on  board.  This  Commodore 
Barren  refused  to  permit,  or  to  allow  his  men  to  be 
mustered  by  any  except  their  own  officers.  Notic 
ing  that  the  decks  were  littered  up  and  the  ship 
utterly  unprepared,  the  British  lieutenant  returned 
in  his  boat  to  the  Leopard.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
British  trained  her  guns  and  opened  fire  upon  the 
Chesapeake.  This  was  in  time  of  peace  and  without 
provocation,  for  Commodore  Barron  had  written  a 
letter  stating  that  he  knew  of  no  British  deserters 
on  his  ship.  Utterly  unprepared,  no  reply  with  fire 
and  shot  to  the  treacherous  bully  could  be  made. 
The  Chesapeake  s  crew  were  so  unready  that  even 
the  single  cannon  discharged  was  fired  by  an  officer 
who  carried  in  his  hands  a  live  coal  from  the  cook's 
galley  and  placed  it  upon  the  powder  of  the  touch- 
hole.  The  Chesapeake  struck  her  colors,  and  the 
British  took  off  three  men,  but  let  Commodore 
Barron  return  to  Norfolk  with  his  ship. 

Yet  the  moral  effect  of  this  affair  was  excellent, 


106  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  the  ultimate  benefit  to  the  Americans  very 
great.  Very  little  damage  had  been  done  by  the 
British  cannon  balls.  The  mist  of  rumor  and  exag 
geration  of  the  power  of  the  British  broadside  were 
blown  away,  and  for  all  time  our  navy  learned  the 
lesson  of  being  always  ready  and  effective.  Now, 
no  ships  are  neater,  no  crews  are  more  vigilant,  and 
no  officers  are  in  more  constant  preparation  for  the 
possibilities  of  action,  whether  the  time  be  one  of 
war  or  peace,  than  are  those  of  the  United  States. 

But  instead  of  going  on  to  increase  and  perfect 
our  navy,  Congress  foolishly  passed  laws  called  the 
Embargo  and  Non-intercourse  acts,  which  forbade 
any  American  vessels  sailing  from  our  ports.  By 
paralyzing  our  commerce,  it  was  hoped  that  France 
and  England  would  behave  themselves.  This  was 
like  cutting  off  one's  own  arm  to  make  men  respect 
you,  instead  of  using  it  for  defence.  We  lost  time, 
trade,  money,  and  ships. 

Nevertheless  one  good  result  sprang  out  of  this 
suicidal  policy.  The  stream  of  American  energy, 
turned  back  by  this  dam,  found  outlet  in  another 
direction.  Factories  rose,  and  soon  new  wheels 
were  turning.  The  New  Englanders  turned  their 
attention  to  manufactures  and  labor-saving  inven 
tions.  The  Pennsylvanian,  Fulton,  launched  his 
steamboat  on  the  Hudson,  and  the  Clermont  moved 
without  wind  or  oars  against  wind  and  current  from 


WHY  A  SECOND    WAR  FOR  FREEDOM   WAS  FOUGHT.     IO/ 

New  York  to  Albany.  The  puffing  monster  scared 
some  of  the  farmers,  who  thought  that  the  devil  was 
riding  up  the  river  on  a  sawmill.  The  fishermen 
and  sailors  were  awed  almost  as  much  as  the 
Indians  had  been,  two  centuries  before,  by  Henry 
Hudson  and  his  ship  Half  Moon.  In  the  far 
Northwest  Lewis  and  Clarke  explored  the  Missouri 
River  valley  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
down  the  Columbia  River,  which  was  first  named 
after  his  own  vessel,  by  Captain  Robert  Gray,  who 
carried  the  American  flag  around  the  world.  Soon 
steamboats  began  carrying  emigrants  and  stimulat 
ing  traffic  on  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  the  western 
rivers,  and  the  Great  Lakes.  A  few  years  later 
the  first  ocean  steamer  crossed  from  Savannah  to 
Europe,  bearing  the  American  flag. 

When  James  Madison,  often  called  "  the  Father 
of  the  Constitution,"  was  chosen  President  and  came 
into  office,  thousands  of  American  ships  were  rotting 
at  their  wharves.  Their  owners  waited  impatiently 
for  the  liberty  of  commerce.  Misled  by  what  the 
British  minister  at  Washington  had  promised,  that 
they  would  be  unmolested  by  British  men-of-war 
if  they  traded  only  in  English  ports,  they  started 
out  on  the  ocean,  turning  the  cold  shoulder  to 
France.  But  American  captains  soon  found  that 
England  would  not  cease  searching  our  ships,  nor 
did  Napoleon  keep  his  word  any  better.  When, 


108  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

further,  as  was  believed,  British  agents  stirred  up 
Tecumseh,  an  Indian  chief  of  Ohio,  who  united 
the  savage  clans  from  Florida  to  Michigan  to  break 

o  o 

up  the  white  settlements,  General  William  Henry 
Harrison  marched  into  Indiana.  At  Tippecanoe, 
in  1811,  he  defeated  the  embattled  redmen. 

Other  incidents  came  to  aggravate  the  bitter 
feelings  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain.  Commodore  John  Rodgers  and  other 
naval  captains  believed  that  our  men  and  ships 
could  meet  the  British  on  the  seas  with  fair  pros 
pect  of  success.  Having  confidence  in  the  merits 
of  the  American  long  gun  and  the  heavy  frigate, 
they  determined  to  leave  nothing  to  chance.  They 
constantly  drilled  their  men  both  at  cannon  and 
carronades,  and  with  cutlass,  pike,  and  pistol. 
They  determined,  when  they  got  a  chance,  to  put 
an  end  to  the  abominable  habit  of  the  searching 
of  our  ships  by  the  heroes  of  Trafalgar,  whom  long 
success  had  made  insolent. 

Gradually  a  party  was  formed  in  this  country 
which  had  representatives  in  Congress,  whose  creed 
was  that  war  with  Great  Britain  would  consolidate 
the  union  of  the  states,  and  thus  benefit  the  country 
by  developing  its  resources.  The  cry  went  up  for 
"  free  trade  and  sailors'  rights."  This  meant  freedom 
to  trade  with  any  country  that  would  trade  with  us, 
and  protection  of  American  seamen  against  seizure. 


WHY  A   SECOND    WAR  FOR   FREEDOM   WAS  FOUGHT.     1 09 

Naval  fashions  of  that  clay  called  for  a  vast  area 
of  canvas  on  the  sailing  ships,  with  enormous  flags 
and  streamers.  One  British  vessel,  the  Guerrwre, 
had  her  name  painted  in  large  letters  on  the  top 
sails.  Captain  Dacres,  her  commander,  had  become 
conspicuous  for  his  bravado  in  insulting  American 
merchant  captains.  Since  1790  a  question  of  im 
pressment,  or  the  press  gang,  had  been  debated 
between  Washington  and  London,  without  much 
apparent  benefit ;  but  now  Commodore  Rodgers 
received  orders  to  put  an  end  to  these  outrages, 
which  made  such  annoying  delay  and  greatly 
injured  trade.  Burning  to  revenge  the  Chesapeake 
affair,  the  frigate  President  put  to  sea  with  her 
name  boldly  blazoned  on  her  three  topsails  like 
those  of  the  Guerriere. 

When  near  Sandy  Hook  an  episode  took  place 
which  precipitated  the  War  of  1812.  At  half-past 
eight  in  the  evening  of  May  lyth,  Commodore 
Rodgers  signalled  a  strange  sail,  asking,  "  What 
ship  is  that  ?  "  The  hailed  vessel  replied  with  four 
cannon  shot.  Then  began  a  general  fusillade,  which 
lasted  fifteen  minutes.  The  British  sloop  of  war, 
Little  Belt,  had  foolishly  attacked  an  American 
heavy  frigate.  The  next  morning  it  was  found  that 
the  smaller  vessel,  though  terribly  shattered,  was 
able  to  proceed  on  her  course.  The  accounts  of 
the  affair  given  by  the  two  commanders  cannot  be 


110  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

reconciled,  but  the  breach  was  widened.  Although 
it  was,  and  always  will  be,  a  disgrace  to  their 
Christianity  for  English-speaking  people  to  shed 
each  other's  blood,  war  broke  out. 

When   hostilities  be^an  the   British  had  over  a 

o 

thousand  armed  ships.  Flushed  with  their  victories 
under  Lord  Nelson,  and  excited  by  the  sea  songs  of 
Dibdin,  they  considered  themselves  "  lords  of  the 
main."  In  their  naval  battles  they  had  sunk  hun 
dreds  of  French  ships,  many  of  them  as  large  and 
heavy  as  their  own,  and  they  had  won  flags  French, 
Dutch,  Spanish,  Danish,  by  the  hundreds.  No  one 
can  ever  accuse  the  British  sailors  or  soldiers  of 
a  lack  of  courage.  Now,  however,  they  were  to 
learn  from  their  own  kinsmen  that  brute  force  is 
less  valuable  in  war  than  intelligence,  and  that  a 
little  navy,  contemptible  in  size,  could  strike  down 
more  British  flags  in  a  generation  than  they  had 
lost  in  a  century. 

On  the  American  side  were  a  few  first-class  ships 
and  excellent  guns  manned  and  served  mainly  by 
native  Americans.  Although  Congress  had  neg 
lected  the  navy,  yet  Commodore  Rodgers's  squad 
ron  was  in  the  finest  condition.  As  a  rule,  the 
British  navy  had  no  ships  equal  in  general  effec 
tiveness  to  the  American  heavy  frigates,  the  long 
guns  of  which  had  sights  fitted  to  them,  which 
enabled  our  men  to  fire  with  wonderful  accuracy. 


WHY  A   SECOND    WAR   FOR   FREEDOM   WAS  FOUGHT.     I  I  I 

In  using  sheet-lead  cartridges,  they  anticipated  the 
copper  shells  of  later  American  invention.  Further 
more,  our  men  were  drilled  to  be  cool  and  to  wait 
until  the  exact  moment  of  firing.  The  Americans 
took  more  care  of  their  guns,  fastened  them  more 
securely,  did  not  overload  them,  counted  rather 
than  weighed  their  shot,  and  depended  on  intelli 
gence  rather  than  on  numbers.  Besides  the  long 
guns  were  the  short  and  chubby  carronades, 
named  from  the  Carron  iron  works  in  Scotland, 
where  they  were  first  made.  These  did  terrible 
execution  at  close  range  in  tearing  up  sails,  rigging, 
and  thus  disabling  the  enemy. 

The  naval  officer  of  the  early  part  of  our  century 
was  usually  a  handsome  man,  with  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  gilt  buttons  and  expanse  of  gold  braid  on 
his  coat  to  make  him  greatly  admired  of  the  ladies. 
The  old  pigtail  and  eelskin  of  the  Revolutionary 
days  had  passed  away  at  the  dictate  of  fashion. 
Most  of  the  officers  had  more  or  less  wavy  hair. 
How  so  many  of  them  were  able  to  make  their  hair 
curl  is  a  mystery,  but  there  is  no  secret  as  to  why 
none  of  them  wore  mustaches  or  beards,  for  these 
things  were  not  in  fashion.  Even  individuals,  how 
ever  eminent  on  deck  or  in  port,  could  not  gratify 
their  taste,  had  they  desired  to  keep  the  upper  lip 
covered ;  for  the  regulations  of  the  navy  forbade 
the  growth  of  hair  on  the  face  or  chin,  and  would 


112  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

not  tolerate  a  mustache  "  under  any  circumstances." 
So  in  their  portraits  we  see  the  epauletted  naval 
heroes  with  high  stocks  and  stand-up  collars,  with 
ruffled  shirt  bosoms,  but  only  "  sides  "  or  short  col 
umns  of  whiskers  below  their  ears,  or  occasionally 
coming  forward  toward  the  mouth  or  high  up  on 
the  cheek. 

One  great  difference  in  the  general  spirit  of  the 
navy  and  that  of  the  army  in  1812,  as  in  1898, 
lay  in  this,  that  the  navy  was  a  purely  professional 
school,  in  which  only  trained  men  thoroughly 
equipped  for  their  work  took  part.  Patriotism  had 
thus  the  best  chance  to  show  itself.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  army,  except  the  small  nucleus  of  the 
regulars,  became  the  prey  of  partisan  politicians 
and  of  men  ignorant  of  the  scientific  work  of  the 
true  soldier.  The  navy  had  a  further  advantage  in 
that  the  Tripolitan  war  had  been  a  magnificent 
training-school  for  our  officers.  Commodore  Preble 
was  really  the  father  of  the  American  navy,  for  he 
infused  in  it  his  dauntless  spirit,  and  made  the 
young  officers  proud  of  their  calling.  Under  his 
own  eyes  were  trained  Hull,  Decatur,  Bainbridge, 
McDonough,  Porter,  Lawrence,  Biddle,  Chauncey, 
Warrington,  Charles  Morris,  and  Stewart,  all  of 
whom,  in  1812,  kept  our  flag  afloat  on  the  seas, 
and  won  fame  in  the  war  with  the  mightiest  naval 
power  on  this  planet. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  NAVAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  l8l2. 

WHEN  the  declaration  of  war  was  made  by 
Congress  on  the  i2th  of  June,  1812,  there 
was  no  money  in  the  treasury  and  the  Cabinet  was 
divided.  On  our  side  some  of  the  veterans  of  the 
Revolution  were  living.  So  also  was  King  George 
III.  So  great  was  the  cowardly  fear  of  British 
invincibility  on  the  seas,  that  some  in  Washington 
urged  that  our  men-of-war  should  keep  within  tide 
water,  and  act  only  as  harbor  batteries.  We  had 
then  only  three  first-class  and  two  second-class 
frigates  which  were  seaworthy,  together  with  five 
brigs  and  sloops  and  three  second-class  frigates 
under  repair,  besides  the  one  hundred  and  seventy 
little  gunboats.  Captains  Bainbridge  and  Stewart 
went  in  person  to  remonstrate  against  the  frigates 
being  kept  at  home.  Commodore  Rodgers,  as  soon 
as  news  of  the  declaration  of  war  came,  moved  out 
to  sea,  so  as  not  to  receive  orders  of  recall.  He 
was  in  charge  of  the  President,  United  States, 
Congress,  Argus,  and  Hornet  —  one-third  of  our 
whole  naval  force  at  that  time, 
i  113 


114  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

The  naval  campaign  of  1812—1815  was  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  in  the  annals  of  ocean  war.  Within 
two  years  the  British  lost  more  flags,  through  cap 
ture  by  Americans,  than  had  been  won  from  them 
by  their  foes  during  the  previous  two  centuries. 
The  first  gun  afloat  was  fired  by  Commodore  John 
Rodgers,  who,  in  the  President,  the  best  sailing  ship 
of  the  navy,  chased  the  Belvidere^  which,  however, 
escaped  to  Halifax.  Then,  crossing  the  ocean, 
Rodgers  wrought  great  havoc  on  the  British  com 
merce  off  the  Norway  coast  and  in  the  seas  around 
Great  Britain.  It  was  found  necessary  in  London 
to  despatch  a  great  fleet  of  ships  to  find  Rodgers, 
who,  however,  came  back  safely.  Soon  the  Admir 
alty  in  London  issued  an  order  to  their  war  vessels 
to  refuse  battle  with  the  Americans,  except  upon 
rigidly  equal  terms.  They  called  our  heavy  frigates 
"  disguised  seventy-fours." 

The  first  combat  at  sea  struck  the  keynote  of 
victory.  Captain  Isaac  Hull,  in  the  Constitution, 
was  chased  by  three  British  frigates,  but  surprised 
his  veteran  opponents  by  his  bold  and  original 
methods  of  seamanship,  and  got  off  safely.  Later, 
in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  he  met  alone  and  by 
herself  the  British  man-of-war  Guerrwre,  one  of  his 
late  pursuers.  This  vessel  had  been  captured  from 
the  French,  and  its  name  was  only  another  form  of 
the  word  "  warrior."  Then  began  the  first  of  fif- 


THE  NA  VAL    CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  1 1 5 

teen  naval  battles,  twelve  of  which  were  won  by 
Americans. 

The  Guerriere  moved  gayly  to  the  work  of  battle 
and  began  firing  rapidly,  but  Captain  Hull  kept  his 
officers  and  men  waiting  until  the  right  moment. 
They  found  it  very  hard  to  stand  still,  all  expectant 
and  excited  as  they  were,  and  be  fired  at  without 
making  reply ;  but,  when  once  the  24-pounders 
began  their  music,  so  welcome  to  the  ears  of  our 
tars,  only  twenty  minutes  were  necessary  to  reduce 
the  British  ship  to  firewood.  Every  one  of  the  masts 
of  the  Guerriere  was  shot  away,  and  her  hull  was  so 
badly  smashed  by  the  American  24-pounders  that 
she  drifted  helplessly  as  a  hulk  and  had  to  be  set  on 
fire.  When  Captain  Hull  came  into  Boston  with 
his  prisoners,  the  ship,  almost  uninjured,  was  dubbed 
Old  Ironsides. 

In  October,  1812,  Captain  Jacob  Jones  in  the 
sloop  Wasp  met  his  Britannic  Majesty's  brig  Frolic 
and  gave  battle,  which  began  in  a  rough  sea.  Both 
ships  had  about  the  same  force  of  men  and  guns, 
but  British  sailors  seemed  to  blaze  away  without 
taking  much  aim,  while  the  American  artillerists 
always  pointed  their  guns.  The  Frolic  fired  as  she 
rose  on  the  wave,  the  Wasp  fired  as  she  sunk,  and 
every  shot  seemed  to  tell  on  the  hull  of  her  antago 
nist.  The  consequences  were  that  the  comparative 
loss  of  the  British  and  the  Americans  in  this  naval 


Il6  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

duel,  as  in  that  of  the  Constitution  and  Guerriere, 
was  five  to  one.  Soon  after  the  combat  the  British 
seventy-four-gun  ship  Poictiers  appeared  and  took 
both  the  Wasp  and  the  Frolic. 

This  was  in  substance  a  civil  war,  for  English- 
speaking  men,  with  much  the  same  ideas,  were 
fighting  each  other  and  were  equally  brave ;  but 
our  ships  were  the  best  built  in  the  world,  and  in 
nearly  every  case  the  Americans  had  the  advantages 
in  throwing  heavier  shot  and  often  having  more 
guns  in  a  broadside.  Yet  even  these  facts  do  not 
account  for  the  tremendous  victories  gained.  The 
true  reason  was  that  the  English  had  been  spoiled 
by  their  victories  over  the  French,  and  did  not  try 
to  improve ;  while  the  Americans  were  strict  in 
discipline  and  were  constantly  aiming  to  do  better. 
Our  ships,  guns,  seamanship,  and  discipline  were 
ahead  of  those  of  Europeans  at  that  time.  Our 
people  were  alert  for  new  ideas,  and  for  the  best 
way  of  applying  them,  and  the  newspapers  and 
patent  office  reports  of  that  day  show  how  active 
was  the  Yankee  brain  in  generating  new  and 
wonderful  engines  of  war. 

Late  in  October  Commodore  Decatur,  command 
ing  the  frigate  United  States,  met  the  British  ship 
Macedonian,  which  had  been  captured  from  the 
French.  The  British  guns  were  18-  and  32-pound- 
ers.  The  Americans'  were  24-  and  42-pounders,  and 


THE  NA  VAL    CAMPAIGN  OF  2812.  1 1 7 

the  United  States  had  three  more  guns  in  broad 
side,  and  therefore  a  much  heavier  battery.  This 
does  not,  however,  explain  the  completeness  of  the 
victory.  The  Americans  displayed  so  much  skill 
in  the  handling  of  their  artillery  that  on  board 
the  United  States  the  Americans  killed  and 
wounded  numbered  but  thirteen,  while  on  the 
British  vessel  there  were  eight  times  as  many,  or 
one  hundred  and  four.  The  Macedonian  became 
one  of  the  most  valuable  and  useful  ships  of  our 
navy. 

The  navy  department  now  ordered  a  squadron, 
the  Constitution,  Essex,  and  Hornet,  to  make  a 
cruise  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  protect  our  com 
merce  and  whaling  fleet  from  the  British  cruisers. 
Then,  for  the  first  time,  our  national  vessels  were 
seen  in  that  greatest  of  oceans,  in  which  now  we 
hold  possessions,  and  where  the  stars  and  stripes 
have  been  planted  to  stay.  When  near  Brazil,  and 
four  days  after  Christmas,  the  Constitution  met  the 
splendid  British  frigate,  Java.  Ships,  guns,  and 
men  were  very  nearly  matched,  and  the  fight  lasted 
over  an  hour.  The  Java  was  so  badly  smashed  by 
the  American  shot  that  she  could  not  be  kept  as  a 
prize,  and  was  sunk.  The  casualties  on  our  side 
were  thirty-four  and  on  the  British  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four. 

Two  days  after  Washington's  birthday,  Captain 


Il8  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Lawrence,  in  the  brig  Hornet,  near  Demerara,  in 
British  Guiana,  gave  battle  to  the  British  vessel 
Peacock.  In  fifteen  minutes  after  the  first  gun  was 
fired  the  Peacock  sunk  so  quickly  that  Lawrence's 
men  could  not  save  some  of  the  British  sailors,  and 
three  of  the  Americans  went  down  with  part  of  the 
crew  of  the  Peacock.  Beside  the  drowned  men, 
thirty-eight  of  the  British  and  five  of  the  Hornet 
were  killed  or  wounded  in  battle.  The  Hornet  was 
hardly  scratched.  No  battle  showed  so  clearly  that 
not  superior  force  and  valor,  for  both  crews  were 
alike  in  numbers  and  bravery,  but  these  joined  with 
superior  science,  had  won  the  day. 

This  series  of  five  naval  actions,  within  as  many 
months,  shocked  but  enlightened  the  British  public. 
The  feeling  of  contempt  for  American  ships,  men, 
guns,  and  science  changed  to  respect,  and  taught 
British  naval  men  a  lesson  from  which  they  have 
never  ceased  to  profit.  Instead  of  "a  bunch  of  pine 
boards  floating  a  bit  of  striped  bunting,"  they  saw 
in  the  American  heavy  frigate  the  best-equipped 
war-ship  of  modern  times. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  before  1812  there 
was  no  "  nation  "  in  the  United  States,  in  the  same 
sense  that  there  is  now.  The  states  were  jealous 
and  comparatively  hostile  to  each  other.  Although 
the  words  "  nation  "  and  "  national  "  were  used,  yet 
it  was  hard  for  a  Frenchman  or  Englishman  to  see 


THE  NAVAL    CAMPAIGN   OF  1812.  119 

in  the  voluntary  confederation  of  the  thirteen  states, 
or  of  the  sixteen,  a  true  nation.  Consequently,  most 
of  our  diplomacy,  yes,  even  our  begging  for  justice, 
was  met  with  silent  contempt.  One  set  of  our  own 
politicians  declared  that  the  states  were  foreign  to 
one  another,  and  only  a  nation  in  their  relation  to 
other  powers,  or  to  Europe ;  but  the  Europeans 
could  not  see  even  this.  It  required  the  insults  of 
France  and  Great  Britain,  and  the  humiliation  of  the 
Embargo  and  Non-intercourse  laws,  to  fall  like  the 
blows  of  a  hammer  and  weld  together  the  states  into 
"a  more  perfect  union."  These  events  served  to 
create  one  new  national  spirit,  which  burst  the 
shackles  of  sectionalism  and  of  party  spirit  and  ful 
filled  the  desire  of  Washington,  who  wanted  a  truly 
American  character. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

OUR    FLAG    KEPT    FLYING    ON    LAKES    AND    SEAS. 

IT  was  no  wonder  that  our  army  failed  in  this  war, 
for  the  war  department  was  poorly  organized,  and 
few  of  the  officers  in  the  higher  grades  had  seen  any 
service  since  the  Revolution.  It  was  proposed  to 
invade  Canada,  but  there  were  no  roads  worth 
speaking  of,  over  which  to  march  or  take  wagon- 
trains;  the  Indians  were  unfriendly.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Canadians  were  skilled  watermen,  who 
were  likely  to  do  better  in  the  forests  and  along  the 
lakes  and  rivers  than  our  men  could  hope  to  do. 

The  British  government  sent  Admiral  Sir  John 
Warren  to  command  the  British  squadron  on  the 
American  coast.  His  next  in  command,  Rear- 
Admiral  Cockburn,  kept  the  coast  of  Chesapeake 
Bay  in  alarm  by  raiding  the  barnyards  and  villages 
of  the  region,  capturing  and  destroying  also  Havre 
de  Grace  in  Maryland  and  Hampton  in  Virginia. 

One  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  British  navy  was 
Captain  Broke.  He  was  in  command  of  the  frigate 
Shannon,  which  was  named  after  a  river  in  Ireland. 
This  was  one  of  the  few  vessels  of  the  British  navy 

120 


OUR  FLAG   KEPT  FLYING    ON  LAKES  AND   SEAS.     121 

on  which  the  constant  drill  of  marines  and  sailors, 
with  cannon  and  small  arms,  with  the  firing  of  ball 
cartridges  in  practice,  was  steadily  kept  up.  On 
the  first  of  June,  he  sent  a  challenge  to  Captain 
James  Lawrence,  who,  after  the  sinking  of  the  Pea 
cock,  had  been  put  in  command  of  the  frigate  Chesa 
peake.  Before  it  arrived  Lawrence  sailed  out  of 
Boston  harbor  to  give  battle  to  this,  the  finest 
vessel  in  the  British  navy.  In  the  eyes  of  sailors, 
the  Chesapeake  was  considered  unlucky,  because  in 
launching,  her  hull  had  stuck  on  the  ways  and  she 
had  reached  the  water  with  difficulty,  and  because 
also  she  had  been  "  leopardized  "  or  fired  into,  with 
out  ability  to  return  the  attack  by  the  British  man- 
of-war  Leopard,  and  had  struck  her  flag.  The 
Chesapeake  had  only  a  raw  crew,  hastily  gathered, 
many  of  them  foreigners,  and  Lawrence  had  no 
time  to  drill  them.  The  crew,  equipment,  and  state 
of  discipline  on  Lawrence's  vessel  were  entirely 
different  from  those  on  any  American  ship  in  the 
navy.  The  sailors  were  a  bad  lot,  disaffected,  and 
clamorous  for  grog  and  promises  of  prize  money. 
They  had  to  be  bribed  to  go  to  their  duty.  The 
forces  of  the  two  ships  in  power  of  iron  and  human 
muscle  were  about  matched,  but  the  Shannon,  be 
side  having  a  brave  and  skilful  commander,  had  an 
excellent  crew  in  the  highest  state  of  efficiency,  and 
it  is  ever  the  man  more  than  the  machine  that  tells. 


122  THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

The  British  captains  of  this  time  preferred  what 
they  called  "  yard-arm  engagements."  By  this  they 
meant  that  after  the  first  broadside  their  ships 
should  be  quickly  ranged  up  alongside  of  the  enemy 
so  that  the  yard-arms  of  both  could  interlock  or  lie 
parallel.  Then  the  grappling-irons  could  be  thrown 
out,  boarders  could  stream  over  the  enemy's  side 
and  his  ship  be  taken  by  assault,  final  victory  being 
won  by  hand-to-hand  fighting,  This  allowed  sail 
ors  to  do  at  sea  very  much  what  the  British  soldiers 
did  on  land  —  they  fired  a  volley  and  then  charged 
with  a  cheer,  to  finish  with  the  bayonet. 

Hitherto,  however,  in  the  naval  duels  between 
American  and  British  ships,  the  superior  seaman 
ship  of  our  captains  had  prevented  such  a  move 
ment,  and  the  cool  scientific  gunnery  of  our  men 
had  effectually  spoiled  the  old  programme.  Now, 
unfortunately,  at  the  first  fire,  the  Chesapeake  lost 
several  of  her  officers,  including  her  commander, 
Lawrence.  He  was  mortally  wounded  and  carried 
below,  crying,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship."  Then  the 
Shannon  got  into  position  where  she  could  rake  the 
doomed  vessel.  This  is  always  the  most  murderous 
part  of  a  sea  battle,  for  instead  of  the  ball,  canister, 
and  grape-shot  tearing  across  the  ship  sideways, 
the  missiles  fly  from  stern  to  stem  along  the  decks, 
where  hundreds  of  men  are  crowded  together.  In 
this  way  every  shot  is  apt  to  do  fivefold  execution, 


OUR  FLAG   KEPT  FLYING    ON  LAKES  AND   SEAS.     123 

Very  soon  after  the  Chesapeake  had  been  raked, 
losing  most  of  her  officers,  a  boarding  party,  led  by 
the  brave  Captain  Broke  himself,  reached  the  deck 
of  the  Chesapeake.  The  cowardly  crew  without 
discipline  or  officers  retreated,  but  the  brave  chap 
lain  took  up  the  sword  and  stood  his  ground,  tak 
ing  off  Broke's  arm.  After  a  fifteen  minutes'  fight, 
the  Chesapeake  was  carried  as  a  prize  to  Halifax. 
About  half  a  ton  of  iron,  mostly  in  the  form  of 
"  langrage "  shot  from  the  American  carronades, 
was  taken  out  of  the  sides  of  the  Shannon.  This 
"  flying  cutlery,"  made  by  sewing  up  old  bits  of 
iron  and  metal  scraps  of  all  sorts  in  bags  of  leather, 
was  very  effective  at  short  range  in  cutting  the 
enemy's  sails  and  rigging  to  pieces. 

The  Chesapeake,  after  being  actively  used  in  the 
British  navy  for  many  years,  was  finally  sold  and 
broken  up.  Her  timbers,  some  of  them  still  marked 
with  the  shot  of  the  Shannon,  were  used  to  build  a 
flour  mill.  This  still  stands  in  use  at  an  English 
village  within  a  few  miles  of  Portsmouth.  Cap 
tain  Broke  was  made  a  nobleman.  Provost  Wallis, 
then  a  young  officer  on  the  Shannon,  lived  to  be  an 
admiral  and  died  within  this  decade.  Lawrence's 
last  cry,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship,"  became  a  house 
hold  word  in  the  United  States,  and  was  soon  the 
augury  of  triumph  on  Lake  Erie. 

Commodore  Isaac  Chauncey,  on  the  Qth  of  Novem- 


124  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

her,  1813,  obtained  control  of  Lake  Ontario.  Be 
side  handling  his  little  schooners  with  ability,  he 
had  fresh  ships  built,  and  then  supported  General 
Pike  in  an  attack  upon  the  Canadian  town  of  York, 
which  was  captured,  and  a  ship  also.  Unfortu 
nately  some  of  our  men  burned  the  little  parliament 
house,  which  afterward  gave  Admiral  Cockburn  an 
excuse  for  his  disgraceful  incendiarism  at  Washing 
ton.  Fort  George,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara 
River,  was  also  captured  by  the  American  flotilla 
and  forces.  Two  young  men  who  afterward  became 
famous,  Captain  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  and  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  Winfield  Scott,  took  part  in  this  gallant 
affair.  Yet  on  the  whole  the  campaign  on  the  north 
ern  frontier  was  marked  more  by  failures  than  by 
successes.  Indeed,  the  American  prospects  in  the 
early  part  or  the  first  half  of  1813  were  very  gloomy, 
when  suddenly  a  great  bright  light  of  victory  burst 
upon  the  nation. 

Oliver  Hazard  Perry  had  been  sent  to  Lake  Erie 
to  take  the  naval  command.  This  Ohio  region  was 
so  very  far  away  in  those  days  from  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  that  a  grape-shot  cost  nearly  its  weight 
in  silver,  and  powder  was  worth  as  much  as  spices, 
but  then  wood  for  fuel  and  shipbuilding  was  cheap 
and  plentiful.  Setting  out  in  a  sleigh  with  his 
younger  brother,  he  rode  through  the  Mohawk 
Valley  and  the  woods  of  western  New  York.  He 


OUR  FLAG  KEPT  FLYING   ON  LAKES  AND   SEAS.     125 

reached  the  town  of  Erie,  to  which  gangs  of  ship 
carpenters,  who  had  travelled  from  Philadelphia  by 
wagon,  boat,  and  canoe,  had  also  come.  The  shores 
of  the  lake  furnished  all  the  requisite  floating 
material  in  the  forests  which  then  stood  miles  deep, 
The  axemen,  carpenters,  and  blacksmiths  began 
their  work,  and  keels  were  laid  and  forges  set 
up.  Often  what  was  standing  timber  in  the  morn 
ing  would  be  part  of  a  ship  before  sunset.  So 
green  was  the  wood  of  this  hastily  improvised 
squadron,  that  the  hammer  which  struck  too  far 
upon  the  nail  head  would  squeeze  out  the  sap  until 
the  hammer's  face  was  wet  and  the  carpenter  must 
look  out  lest  the  sap  fly  in  his  eyes.  When  the 
Kentucky  men,  who  had  never  seen  boats  bigger 
than  batteaux,  came  on  board  these  ships,  they  were 
surprised  beyond  measure  at  the  largeness  of  the 
"  big  canoes." 

At  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  beside  which  the  ships 
were  built  and  launched,  there  was  a  bar  of  sand 
making  shallow  water.  This  was  hard  to  get  over 
any  time,  and  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy  would  be 
impossible.  But  long  ago  a  Dutchman  had  in 
vented  what  is  called  the  "  ship's  camel,"  which  is 
a  long  box  or  series  of  caissons  of  wood  joined  to 
gether.  These,  when  filled  with  water,  sink  under 
a  ship,  just  as  a  camel  kneels  to  receive  its  burden. 
When  the  water  is  pumped  out  of  the  boxes,  they 


126  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

lift  the  ship  up  and  carry  it  like  a  camel  under  his 
packs.  With  these,  Perry  got  over  the  bar.  His 
squadron  consisted  of  nine  vessels,  two  of  which 
were  the  brigs  Lawrence  and  Niagara.  On  the 
1 4th  of  September  he  advanced  to  meet  Commo 
dore  Barclay,  who  was  one  of  Nelson's  veterans. 
The  battle  took  place  near  Put-in  Bay,  Ohio. 
Perry,  hoisting  over  his  flag-ship  Lawrence,  on  a 
big  square  flag,  the  dying  words  of  the  commander 
after  whom  the  ship  was  named,  "  Don't  give  up 
the  ship,"  dashed  at  the  enemy.  The  wind  was 
light.  The  Lawrence  was  left  without  much  sup 
port  from  his  other  vessels,  and  was  so  exposed  to 
the  protracted  British  fire  that  her  guns  were  all 
disabled  and  nearly  all  her  men  killed  or  wounded. 
It  looked  like  a  complete  defeat  for  the  Americans. 
At  this  darkest  hour  Perry,  with  those  of  his  crew 
who  were  less  severely  wounded,  lowered  his  boat 
and  with  his  little  brother  passed  through  the 
terrific  fire  of  cannon  and  musketry  to  the  Niag 
ara.  Although  splashed  with  water  from  balls 
which  pierced  clothing,  splintered  oars,  and  struck 
all  around,  the  gallant  commodore  and  his  men 
reached  the  ship  and  sent  Captain  Elliott  to  bring 
up  the  schooners  in  the  rear. 

It  was  in  attempting  to  perform  a  similar  feat  of 
rowing  between  the  Dutch  and  British  fleets  that 
an  English  admiral  was  killed.  Our  Commodore 


OUR  FLAG  KEPT  FLYING    ON  LAKES  AND   SEAS.     I2/ 

Tattnall,  in  Chinese  waters  nearly  a  half  century 
afterward,  though  in  as  great  danger  as  Perry, 
was  similarly  successful. 

Re-forming  his  ships  in  line  abreast,  and  the  wind 
increasing,  Perry  broke  the  enemy's  line  and  cap 
tured  the  entire  British  squadron  —  the  first  time 
such  a  thing  had  happened  in  the  history  of  the 
navy  of  Great  Britain.  Then  Perry  sat  down  and 
dictated  that  famous  sentence  of  nine  words.  "  We 
have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours."  In  his 
nervousness,  as  seen  in  the  original  letter,  he  left 
out  one  word.  Brevity  is  not  only  the  soul  of  wit, 
but  of  fame  also,  and  the  glory  of  a  victor  is 
usually  enhanced  by  short  sentences  that  stick  in 
memory. 

In  nature  the  soap  bubble  becomes  more  gor 
geous  in  color  and  richer  in  prismatic  tints  as  it 
becomes  thinner.  So  the  "  bubble  reputation," 
which  ambitious  patriots  seek  "even  at  the  can 
non's  mouth,"  takes  on  richer  rainbow  hues  when, 
with  the  breath  of  rhetoric,  it  catches  the  popular 
attention.  Half  of  Oliver  Perry's  fame  is  due  to 
his  sententious  despatch  of  nine  words :  "  We  have 
met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours."  Thomas  Jeffer 
son  won  renown  by  his  pen  in  the  same  way.  So 
also  did  Sheridan  and  Grant  in  our  day. 

The  British  captured  ships  were  used  to  trans 
port  General  Harrison's  troops  to  Maiden,  while  the 


128  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

Kentucky  cavalry  marched  round  the  shore  of  the 
lake.  When  the  British  forces  retreated,  they  were 
pursued  by  our  horsemen.  In  the  battle  on  the 
5th  of  October,  near  the  Moravian  towns,  the  united 
forces  of  British  Canadians  and  Indians  were  de 
feated  by  Harrison,  and  Tecumseh  was  killed.  This 
series  of  victories  gave  us  peace  and  quiet  on  Lake 
Erie  and  throughout  the  Northwest. 

In  the  South  four  columns  of  invasion  entered 
Alabama  to  destroy  the  Creek  Indians,  who  had 
listened  to  the  persuasions  of  Tecumseh,  massacred 
hundreds  of  whites,  and  then  fortified  the  Horse 
shoe  Bend  of  the  Tallapoosa  River,  where  they 
believed  themselves  safe.  On  the  2yth  of  March 
General  Andrew  Jackson  led  the  regulars  and  mili 
tia  to  the  attack.  The  volunteers  and  friendly  Ind 
ians  made  the  assault  in  the  rear,  while  the  regular 
army  stormed  the  works  in  front.  For  five  hours  a 
terrible  battle  raged,  and  both  parties  fought  like 
savages.  Even  after  the  firing  was  over,  no  prison 
ers  were  taken,  and  the  Indians  were  put  to  death 
as  if  they  were  vermin.  In  truth,  the  Americans 
were  guilty  of  many  frightful  excesses  and  unneces 
sary  cruelties  during  this  war. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  OLD  IRONSIDES  "  AND  COTTON  BALES. 

ONE  of  the  most  wonderful  achievements  on 
the  ocean  was  that  of  Captain  David  Porter 
in  the  frigate  Essex.  At  this  time  our  American 
whalers  were  numerous  in  the  Pacific,  but  were 
mostly  unarmed,  while  the  British  whaling-ships  car 
ried  cannon  and  were  privateers,  we  thus  being  at 
a  disadvantage.  The  situation  was  relieved  by  the 
appearance  of  the  Essex.  Porter  captured  thirteen 
excellent  vessels,  sending  some  to  the  United  States, 
and  fitting  out  others  as  cruisers. 

For  a  time  Porter  and  his  men  occupied  the 
Marquesas  Islands,  which  Mendana  the  Spaniard 
had  long  ago  discovered  and  named.  This  was 
either  after  the  wife  of  the  viceroy  of  Peru,  or  be 
cause  the  natives  seemed  to  be  so  polite  and  well 
dressed  that  they  were  called  marquises.  The 
northwestern  islands  near  by,  and  until  late  in  this 
century  considered  a  separate  group,  were  discovered 
in  1791  by  an  American  merchant  navigator,  named 
Ingraham,  and  named  the  Washington  Islands.  Tat 
tooing  and  cannibalism  were  both  very  fashionable 
K  129 


130  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

among  the  natives.  Only  for  a  few  months  did  the 
stars  and  stripes  wave  over  the  little  archipelago. 
Then  the  Essex  returned  to  Valparaiso.  Near  this 
port  two  British  vessels,  the  frigate  Phoebe  and  the 
sloop  Cherub,  attacked  the  Essex,  and  after  a  long 
battle  captured  and  destroyed  this  fine  man-of-war, 
named  after  the  county  in  Massachusetts  in  which 
she  was  built. 

On  the  other  hand,  Captain  Warrington,  in  the 
sloop  Peacock,  captured  the  British  brig  Epervier, 
off  the  coast  of  Florida,  in  April.  Our  new  sloop 
of  war  Wasp,  named  after  the  captor  of  the  Frolic, 
took  and  burned  the  sloop  Reindeer,  sunk  the  sloop 
Avon,  and  destroyed  several  prizes  in  the  British 
channel.  After  this  destructive  cruise,  nothing  more 
was  ever  heard  of  the  Wasp. 

By  this  time  the  royal  government  sent  a  large 
fleet  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  which  blockaded  all  our 
ports,  and  prevented  our  national  vessels  from  get 
ting  to  sea;  but  American  privateers  had  been 
commissioned,  and  went  cruising  over  the  ocean 
to  capture  British  ships.  These  vessels  of  various 
size  were  swift  and  well  manned,  and  on  many  the 
crews  were  splendidly  drilled.  They  carried  from 
two  to  ten  guns,  usually  of  long  range.  On  most 
of  them  the  men  were  armed  with  pistol  and  cut 
lass.  They  wore  leather  hats,  strengthened  with 
strips  of  steel  on  the  top  for  defence  against  sword 


"OLD   IRONSIDES"   AND    COTTON  BALES.  131 

strokes,  which  were  held  on  by  straps  of  bearskin. 
These  came  down  over  the  mouth  and  chin,  giving 
the  wearer  a  ferocious  appearance.  Altogether,  dur 
ing  the  war,  our  privateers  captured  about  fourteen 
hundred,  and  our  men-of-war  about  three  hundred 
British  vessels.  These  were  wonderful  results,  show 
ing  also  the  wastefulness  and  foolishness  of  war. 

Thus  far  the  British  government,  having  Napo 
leon  to  attend  to  and  battles  to  fight  against  the 
French,  had  carried  on  a  defensive  policy  during 
war  with  the  United  States ;  but  when  Napoleon 
abdicated,  bodies  of  veteran  troops  were  sent  over 
to  America  who  were  expected  to  do  great  things 
in  marching  from  Canada  to  invade  American  soil. 
This  British  army  of  twelve  thousand  men  took  the 
same  route  as  that  of  Burgoyne  in '1777,  and  was 
supported  on  Lake  Champlain  by  a  squadron  con 
sisting  of  the  Confiance,  Linnet,  Chubb,  and  Finch. 
Our  Commodore  McDonough  had,  beside  his  flag 
ship  Saratoga,  the  brig  Eagle,  the  schooner  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  the  sloop  Preble,  while  both  parties  had 
a  flotilla  of  gunboats.  In  Plattsburg  Bay  McDon 
ough  waited  until  the  enemy  appeared  with  a  fleet 
of  sixteen  vessels,  mounting  ninety-six  guns,  and  car 
rying  one  thousand  men.  Our  force  consisted  of 
fourteen  vessels,  carrying  eighty-six  guns,  served  by 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Then,  on  the  nth 
of  September,  began  a  great  battle  in  perfectly 


132  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

smooth  water,  the  guns  being  fired  at  point-blank 
range.  Commodore  McDonough  showed  consum 
mate  powers  of  seamanship.  After  his  starboard 
battery  had  been  silenced,  he  was  able  to  veer  his 
ship  round,  having  foreseen  and  provided  for  this 
very  event.  So,  getting  in  position,  and  sending 
out  from  his  port  battery  rapid  and  accurate  broad 
sides,  McDonough,  ably  seconded  by  Captain  Cassin, 
won  a  splendid  victory,  destroying  the  fleet  and  com 
pelling  the  British  army  to  retreat  to  Canada. 

This  battle  of  Lake  Champlain  was  really  fought 
with  more  science  and  skill,  and  was  far  more  im 
portant  in  results,  than  was  that  of  Lake  Erie, 
while  McDonough,  a  veteran  of  the  Tripolitan  war, 
was  a  more  accomplished  naval  officer  than  was 
Oliver  Perry.  Yet  where  thousands  know  of  the 
hero  of  the  short  and  easily  quoted  despatch  and  of 
many  pictures,  statues,  and  eulogies,  only  tens  are 
familiar  with  the  name  and  work  of  McDonough, 
or  know  that  among  those  most  competent  to 
judge  —  the  officers  of  the  navy  —  "the  battle  of 
Plattsburg  Bay  is  justly  ranked  among  the  very 
highest  of  its  claims  to  glory."  Both  Perry  and 
McDonough  sprang  from  that  nobly  endowed 
Scotch-Irish  stock  that  has  so  enriched  our  coun 
try  and  shed  lustre  upon  her  fair  name. 

The  navy  of  the  United  States  was  in  a  much 
better  condition  at  the  end  of  the  war  than  at  the 


"OLD  IRONSIDES"   AND    COTTON  BALES.  133 

beginning ;  but  as  there  were  no  telegraphs  in  those 
days  to  send  news  quickly,  several  naval  duels, 
beside  the  great  land  battle  at  New  Orleans,  were 
fought  after  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded. 
When  Commodore  Decatur,  on  a  dark  night,  tried 
to  get  to  sea  from  New  York  harbor,  his  ship,  the 
President,  struck  on  the  bar.  She  was  badly  injured 
while  beating  on  the  sand,  so  that  her  power  of 
swift  sailing  was  greatly  diminished.  Chased  by 
the  British  squadron  and  fired  upon,  a  battle  began 
with  the  Endymion,  which  Decatur  dismantled, 
silenced,  and  compelled  to  drop  out  of  the  action ; 
but  the  President  was  surrounded  and  was  obliged 
to  surrender,  after  having  lost  twenty-four  killed 
and  fifty-five  wounded.  The  British,  after  refitting 
this  finest  sailer  known,  kept  the  splendid  ship  for 
many  years.  In  a  certain  instance,  during  the  Mexi 
can  war,  she  actually  beat  some  of  our  men-of-war 
by  her  speed. 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  actions  in  our  history 
was  when  Commodore  Charles  Stewart,  in  the  one 
vessel  Constitution,  captured  two  ships  in  one  fight, 
the  Cyane  and  the  Levant.  It  required  the  finest 
seamanship  on  Stewart's  part  to  manoeuvre  and 
fight  one  ship  with  Old  Ironsides,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  prevent  the  other  from  getting  in  a  position 
to  rake  him.  This  battle  was  fought  on  the  night 
of  February  20,  1815,  and  lasted  forty  minutes. 


134  rHE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

The  Cyane  had  thirty-four  guns  and  the  Levant 
thirty-one  guns,  but  the  Cyane  was  recaptured  by 
a  British  squadron.  Stewart  was  born  in  Philadel 
phia  July  28,  1778,  and  went  to  sea  at  the  age  of 
thirteen,  becoming  captain  of  an  Indiaman  before 
he  was  twenty.  He  was  also  in  the  French  naval 
war  of  1800  and  in  the  Tripolitan  campaign.  He 
lived  until  the  year  1869.  Well  do  I  remember  him. 

Captain  James  Biddle,  another  officer  born  in, 
Philadelphia,  served  in  the  Tripolitan  war,  during 
which  he  was  a  prisoner  nineteen  months.  On  the 
23d  of  March,  1815,  in  command  of  the  Hornet,  he 
fought  one  of  the  finest  naval  battles  of  the  war, 
capturing  the  brig  Penguin.  To  close  the  naval 
record,  Captain  Warrington,  in  the  Peacock,  captured 
the  East  India  Company's  armed  sloop  Nautilus, 
in  June ;  but  on  hearing  that  peace  had  been  de 
clared,  released  this  prize  and  came  home,  finding 
all  our  men-of-war  safe  in  port. 

Woman's  part  in  war  in  nerving  heroes  to  duty, 
in  providing  comforts,  and  in  healing  and  nursing, 
has  been  largely  overlooked,  but  the  modern  his 
torian  attends  more  generously  to  the  facts  and 
truth  in  this  matter.  Yet  the  glory  of  the  mother 
of  heroes  and  her  part  in  educating  them  was  finely 
shown,  albeit  in  a  homely  way,  by  two  Rhode  Island 
farmers,  as  they  met  on  the  day  after  the  news  from 
Lake  Erie,  in  1813.  Said  one  to  the  other:  — 


"OLD   IRONSIDES"   AND    COTTON  BALES.  135 

"Well,  I  see  that  Mrs.  Perry  has  licked  the 
British." 

"  What  ?  It  was  Oliver,  her  son,  who  did  it ;  you 
mean  him  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't;  I  mean  his  mother,  Mrs.  Perry." 

"  Why  ?  " 

"  Because  she  always  trained  every  one  of  her 
five  boys  to  keep  out  of  a  fight,  unless  he  could  not 
possibly  help  it ;  but  if  he  got  beaten,  she  always 
gave  him  another  whipping  when  he  got  home.  So 
Oliver  had  to  win.  She  made  him  do  it." 

On  land  some  of  the  military  operations  of  the 
War  of  1812  were  a  disgrace  to  the  country.  In  the 
North,  General  Hull  surrendered  his  forces  at  De 
troit.  In  the  South,  General  Jackson  beat  the  Creek 
Indians  at  Horseshoe  Bend  on  the  Alabama  River, 
and  completely  destroyed  their  power.  Generals 
Scott,  Brown,  and  Ripley  crossed  over  into  Canada, 
gaining  the  battle  of  Chippewa  on  July  5th,  and  los 
ing  that  of  Lundy's  Lane,  though  this  is  often  put 
down  falsely  as  an  American  victory.  On  the  Poto 
mac  there  was  something  like  a  battle  fought  at  Bla- 
densburg,  in  which  the  American  militia  ran  away. 
Admiral  Cockburn,  who  disgraced  the  British  name, 
marched  into  Washington  and  set  fire  to  the  capi- 
tol,  the  executive  mansion,  and  other  public  build 
ings,  in  revenge  for  the  Americans  having  burnt 
government  edifices  at  York,  the  capital  of  Canada. 


136  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Then  moving  on  to  Baltimore  the  British  fleet 
and  army  tried  to  take  Fort  Me  Henry,  but  after  a 
twenty-four  hours'  bombardment  were  unable  to  do 
so.  Our  country  gained  by  this  British  defeat  the 
stirring  song  of  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner." 
Francis  Scott  Key,  an  American  who  was  prisoner 
on  board  a  man-of-war,  wrote  the  stanzas  as  in  the 
morning  he  saw  that  "  our  flag  was  still  there." 

The  one  brilliant  victory  on  land  was  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans,  which  was  fought  fifteen  days 
after  a  treaty  of  peace  had  already  been  signed,  for 
there  were  no  telegraphs  in  those  days.  Great 
Britain  had  been  occupied  in  Europe  during  most 
of  this  our  second  war  for  independence,  and  could 
not  send  a  large  army  to  our  country  until  after  the 
battle  of  Leipsic.  Then  fifteen  thousand  British 
veterans  under  the  command  of  General  Pakenham, 
who  had  been  Wellington's  quartermaster,  were  de 
spatched  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  take 
New  Orleans,  and  thus  control  the  navigation  of 
the  great  river. 

General  Andrew  Jackson  was  put  in  command  of 
the  American  army  gathered  to  oppose  the  skilled 
warriors  of  Europe.  Most  of  his  forces  consisted  of 
raw,  undisciplined  militia  from  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee  ;  but  they  were  skilled  marksmen  and  knew 
how  to  handle  the  rifle.  To  fortify  the  city  Jackson 
used  cotton  bales,  which  had  the  great  advantage 


THE    BATTLE    OF    NEW    ORLEANS. 


"OLD  IRONSIDES"  AND    COTTON  BALES.  137 

of  being  tough,  and  could  be  easily  rolled  forward 
or  backward.  Commodore  Patterson,  with  his  little 
naval  force,  greatly  hampered  the  advance  of  the 
British  fleet,  and  one  fort  at  Chalmette  was  so  hand 
somely  served  that  the  invaders  were  kept  back  nine 
days.  In  fact,  it  was  the  artillery  that  really  decided 
the  victory,  though  the  slaughter  of  British  infantry 
at  the  hands  of  the  riflemen  behind  the  cotton  was 
very  great.  After  General  Pakenham  and  other 
high  officers  had  been  killed,  the  British  gave  up  the 
campaign  and  were  soon  repatriated,  or  called  home. 
The  victor's  statue  stands  proudly  to-day  in  the  cen 
tre  of  Jackson  Square,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 

On  its  foreign  side  the  War  of  1812  was  really 
our  second  war  for  freedom.  It  gave  the  world 
assurance  that  in  all  our  foreign  relations  we  were 
not  thirteen  or  eighteen  states,  but  one  country. 
On  its  domestic  side  it  consolidated  the  Union. 
It  fulfilled  the  preamble  of  the  Constitution.  Hence 
forward,  there  was  no  more  talk  about  a  voluntary 
confederation,  but  of  a  nation.  Our  naval  victories 
and  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  compelled  recogni 
tion  of  our  country,  not  only  abroad,  but  even  at 
home,  where  the  local  and  sectional  had  predomi 
nated  over  the  national  spirit. 

In  August,  1814,  three  American  and  five  British 
commissioners  met  at  Ghent,  to  arrange  a  treaty  of 
peace.  Yet  even  while  the  negotiations  were  going 


138  THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

on,  the  British  veterans  were  being  shipped  to  New 
Orleans,  and  the  war  party  and  war  newspapers  in 
Great  Britain  were  crying  out  to  have  President 
Madison  exiled  to  some  island,  even  as  Napoleon 
was  to  be  sent  to  "  a  lone,  barren  isle."  The  London 
Times  said  of  the  United  States,  "  Better  is  it  that  we 
should  grapple  with  the  young  lion  when  he  is  first 
fresh  with  the  taste  of  our  flock,  than  wait  until  in 
the  maturity  of  his  strength  he  bears  away  at  once 
both  sheep  and  shepherd." 

After  seven  months  wrangling  and  negotiation 
at  Ghent,  the  treaty  was  signed  December  24,  1814. 
It  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  February  17,  1815. 
Yet  it  did  not  touch  one  of  the  points  on  which 
the  United  States  had  declared  war.  Our  frigates 
had  sufficiently  settled  these  matters,  and  our  rights 
on  the  ocean  were  respected.  No  foreign  nation 
was  likely  ever  to  establish  itself  on  our  territory. 
Through  the  development  of  our  own  industries  in 
mills  and  founderies,  we  were  now  able  to  weave  our 
own  cloth  from  our  own  cotton  and  wool,  to  make 
our  own  tools  and  machines,  no  longer  depending 
upon  Europe. 

Unique  and  wonderful  was  the  record  of  the  frig 
ate  Constitution  in  the  two  wars,  Tripolitan  and 
British.  Within  three  years  she  had  been  twice 
chased  by  squadrons,  fought  three  big  battles,  and 
captured  five  large  men-of-war.  She  never  lost  a 


"OLD  IRONSIDES"   AND    COTTON  BALES.  139 

mast  or  went  ashore,  and  but  few  of  her  crew  or 
officers  had  been  killed  or  wounded ;  but  then,  she 
was  always  well  manned  and  commanded.  Men  are 
more  than  ships  or  guns. 

Years  afterward,  when  it  was  proposed  to  break 
up  this  historic  leader  of  the  naval  triumphs  of  1812, 
Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  wrote  the  poem  "  Aye, 
Tear  her  Tattered  Ensign  Down,"  and  popular 
feeling  demanded  that  she  be  repaired  and  kept 
afloat.  This  was  done.  Safely  housed  and  roofed 
over,  the  Constitution  has  held  a  conspicuous  place 
of  honor  on  several  great  naval  celebrations,  one 
as  late  as  the  Peace  Jubilee  of  1898,  and  on  the 
occasion  of  her  own  centennial.  Visited  by  tens 
of  thousands  of  people,  her  roominess,  her  great 
breadth,  and  the  facilities  for  comfort  of  officers 
and  men  have  surprised  those  familiar  with  the 
narrow  vessels  of  to-day. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  both  our  first  and  "  our 
second  war  for  freedom  "  were  fought  while  King 
George  III,  the  monarchical  figure-head  of  Great 
Britain,  was  living.  Born  in  1738,  he  suffered  long 
from  insanity,  and  died  in  1820.  Our  flags,  then 
containing  twenty-three  stars,  hung  at  half  mast  in 
sympathy  with  a  narrow  and  weak-minded,  a  well- 
meaning  but  unfortunate  man. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

MADISON    AND    MONROE. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  peace  of  Ghent,  De- 
1  catur  sailed  with  a  powerful  squadron  of  eleven 
ships,  including  some  captured  from  the  British,  to 
settle  with  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  who  had  begun 
seizing  our  ships.  Great  was  the  surprise  of  the 
Barbary  ruler,  who  supposed  the  naval  power  of 
the  United  States  to  have  been  entirely  wiped  off 
the  seas  by  the  British.  Instead  of  this,  a  big 
Yankee  squadron  appeared,  in  which  were  several 
vessels  taken  in  battle  from  the  very  power  that 
had  been  expected  to  destroy  the  American  navy. 
Decatur's  ships  were  the  Guerriere,  Macedonian, 
Epervier,  Constellation,  Ontario,  Firefly,  Shark, 
Flambeau,  Torch,  and  Spitfire.  Two  Algerine 
corsairs  were  at  once  captured. 

The  American  eagle  bears  in  his  talons  the 
arrows  of  war  and  peace.  The  Divan  was  given 
choice  of  either,  for  Decatur  had  on  hand  a  new 
treaty,  already  declaring  that  tribute  was  abolished 
forever.  The  Dey  wanted  time  to  consider.  He 
even  pleaded  for  three  hours.  The  reply  to  his 
envoy  was :  — 

140 


MADISON  AND  MONROE.  141 

"Not  a  minute.  If  your  squadron  appears  in 
sight  before  the  treaty  is  actually  signed  by  the 
Dey  and  sent  off  with  the  American  prisoners,  ours 
will  capture  it." 

Pretty  soon  an  Algerine  ship  did  come  in  sight, 
and  our  men  cleared  for  action  ;  but,  although  the 
messenger  with  the  treaty  had  to  row  five  miles  to 
the  shore  and  back,  the  Dey  signed  inside  three 
hours.  Within  forty-one  days  after  the  squadron 
had  left  American  waters,  the  American  Consul- 
General  landed  with  honor,  and  all  claims  were 
paid  and  captives  restored.  Decatur  chivalrously 
restored  two  Algerine  vessels  which  we  had  cap 
tured. 

One  day  the  minister  of  the  Dey  remarked  sorrow 
fully  to  the  British  Consul  as  follows  :  "  You  told  us 
that  the  Americans  would  be  swept  from  the  sea  in 
six  months  by  your  navy,  and  now  they  make  war 
upon  us  with  some  of  your  own  vessels  which  they 
have  taken." 

Thus  had  our  naval  officers,  Preble,  Bainbridge, 
Decatur,  and  their  gallant  subordinates,  in  the 
classic  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  by  a  series  of 
brave  actions,  laid  the  foundations  of  our  navy's 
noble  reputation.  They  blew  to  atoms  both  the 
gunboat  policy  and  the  claims  of  robber  rulers 
to  molest  our  commerce  and  enslave  our  citizens, 
and  they  won  the  freedom  of  the  seas  and  the 


142  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

rights  of  the  sailor  in  the  War  of  1812.  The  Pope 
of  Rome  paid  a  high  tribute  of  praise  to  our  little 
country,  declaring  that  the  United  States  had  done 
more  to  humble  the  pride  of  the  Mohammedan 
pirates  than  all  Europe. 

Our  navy,  originally  created  in  the  interests  of 
civilization,  has  been  throughout  all  its  history  an 
instrument  to  the  humbling  of  the  tyrants'  pride 
and  the  advance  of  freedom  throughout  the  world. 
The  stars  and  stripes  have  become  "  the  symbol 
of  light  and  law "  and  the  hope  of  the  nations. 
Columbia  is  "  the  gem  of  the  ocean." 

"  Thy  mandates  make  heroes  assemble 
When  liberty's  form  comes  in  view ; 
Thy  banners  make  tyranny  tremble 

When  borne  by  the  red,  white,  and  blue." 

Later  on  Commodore  Bainbridge  arrived  in  the 
Mediterranean,  with  the  line-of-battle  ship  Inde 
pendence  carrying  seventy-four  guns.  This  was  the 
first  war  vessel  of  that  type  which  floated  our  flag 
in  this  favorite  cruising  ground  of  our  officers.  A 
number  of  these  big  ships  were  built  in  our  ship 
yards.  They  carried  from  seventy  to  one  hundred 
guns,  and  were  named  after  states  and  statesmen. 
They  were  the  Independence,  Washington,  Franklin, 
Columbus,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  and  Vermont,  while 
the  Pennsylvania  was  pierced  for  one  hundred  and 


MADISON  AND  MONROE.  143 

twenty  guns.  Nevertheless,  very  little  value  or  satis 
faction  was  ever  derived  from  the  wooden  line-of- 
battle  ships.  Such  a  ship  was  an  Old  World  idea, 
which  would  not  work  well  with  Americans.  Most 
of  their  old  hulks  have  become  receiving  ships  at 
navy-yards.  The  frigates  were  always  useful. 

Our  excellent  example  was  soon  followed  by  the 
British  and  Dutch.  Under  Lord  Exmouth  and 
Admiral  Van  der  Capellen,  Algiers  was  bombarded 
and  burned.  The  next  day  the  Dey  signed  the 
treaty,  by  which  he  agreed  to  treat  prisoners  of  war 
according  to  Christian  customs.  He  then  released 
1642  Christian  slaves,  or  counting  in  those  from 
Tunis  and  Tripoli  3000.  Great  was  the  joy  in 
many  homes  throughout  Christendom.  Yet  bar 
barism  is  easier  to  coerce  than  to  cure. 

When  the  next  Dey  came  in  power,  he  kidnapped 
the  daughters  of  European  residents  for  his  harem, 
and  sent  plague  ships  about  the  Mediterranean  to 
spread  pestilence,  thus  making  himself  an  inter 
national  nuisance. 

It  is  hard  for  a  thief  to  thoroughly  reform.  The 
Dey  of  Algiers  denounced  the  treaty  of  1815,  dis 
missed  our  Consul,  and  then  wrote  our  President  a 
letter,  in  language  such  as  a  polite  cutthroat  might 
pen,  as  follows:  — 

"  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  America,  its  ad 
jacent  and  dependent  provinces,  coast,  and  wherever 


144         THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

his  government  may  extend;  our  noble  friend,  the 
support  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  nation  of  Jesus,  the 
pillar  of  all  Christian  sovereigns,  the  most  glorious 
among  the  princes,  elected  amongst  many  lords  and 
nobles  ;  the  happy,  the  great,  the  amiable  James  Madi 
son,  emperor  of  America  —  may  his  reign  be  happy 
and  glorious,  and  his  life  long  and  prosperous." 

But  President  Madison,  replying  the  next  year, 
in  1816,  said  quietly  and  without  any  flower  gardens 
of  rhetoric :  — 

"  The  United  States,  whilst  they  wish  for  war 
with  no  nation,  will  buy  peace  of  none.  It  is  a 
principle  incorporated  into  the  settled  policy  of 
America,  that  as  peace  is  better  than  war,  war  is 
better  than  tribute." 

When,  therefore,  the  American  squadron  under 
Commodore  Chauncey  appeared  in  1817,  the  treaty 
was  immediately  renewed.  Thus  the  United  States 
was  the  first  nation  to  abolish  tribute,  and  to  com 
pel  the  Barbary  powers  to  treat  prisoners  of  war  in 
a  Christian  manner.  The  greatest  blessing  we  won, 
out  of  these  difficulties,  was  a  navy  with  noble  tra 
ditions  and  prestige.  Though  such  a  force  was 
expensive,  yet  our  diplomatic  negotiations  with  the 
Barbary  states  had  cost  as  much  and  even  more, 
that  is,  between  three  or  four  million  dollars. 

English  and  French  ships,  in  1819,  blockaded  the 
Algerine  ports  and  made  the  barbarian  Dey  behave 


MADISON  AND  MONROE.  145 

himself.  The  insult  to  the  French  Consul,  in  1827, 
exhausted  French  patience.  After  a  three  years' 
blockade  of  the  port  an  army  was  landed  in  Algiers, 
and  the  country  put  under  military  control  and 
kept  as  a  colony  of  France  during  forty  years,  or 
until  1871,  when  the  country  was  given  a  civil 
administration. 

Out  of  this  French  occupation  emerged  into  his 
tory  the  Zouaves,  or  native  Algerian  troops,  serving 
at  the  papal  court  in  the  French  army  and  under 
the  French  flag  on  both  sides  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  in  the  Crimea.  During  our  own  Civil  War 
this  picturesque  costume  was  for  a  while  borrowed 
by  some  of  our  volunteer  regiments,  but  soon  aban 
doned  as  a  rather  expensive  novelty  and  less  suita 
ble  than  the  blue  blouse  and  trousers.  Gradually 
the  native  Algerians  were  separated,  and  became 
known  as  the  Turcos,  while  the  Zouaves  became 
almost  entirely  French.  After  the  Commune  had 
been  suppressed,  and  the  army  entered  Paris,  the 
Zouave  organization  was  dissolved. 

In  1876  it  compelled  great  contrasts  with  those 
early  days,  when  our  navy  won  fame  and  set  an 
example  to  the  world  in  the  classic  waters  of  the 
Mediterranean,  to  have  these  once  Barbary  powers 
coming  with  us  in  peaceful  rivalry  and  exhibiting 
their  products  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  at 
Philadelphia. 


146  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

The  next  President  was  James  Monroe,  after 
whom  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine  "  was  named.  This 
meant  that  the  United  States,  while  resolving  not 
to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  the  nations  of  the  Old 
World,  were  equally  determined  that  these  should 
not  unjustly  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  New 
World.  Our  people  believed  that  the  different 
nations  in  the  two  Americas  had  a  right  to  man 
age  their  own  business,  without  interference  from 
Europe.  In  his  message  of  December  2,  1823, 
President  Monroe  said,  "  We  should  consider  any 
attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any 
portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace 
and  safety,"  and  interference  with  American  politics 
anywhere,  as  "  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States." 

Most  of  the  countries  of  Central  and  South 
America  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Spain  and  de 
clared  themselves  for  self-government.  The  mon- 
archs  of  Europe  looked  with  contempt  and  fear 
upon  all  republics  or  government  "  of  the  people, 
for  the  people,  and  by  the  people."  It  seemed  as 
though  Spain  was  trying  to  get  the  other  one-man 
powers  of  Europe  to  compel  the  Spanish-American 
republics  to  revert  to  despotism,  and  wear  again  the 
yoke  of  obedience  to  the  old  country.  The  proposi 
tion  of  a  union  of  English-speaking  peoples  against 
Spanish  encroachment  came  first  as  a  suggestion 


MADISON  AND  MONROE.  147 

from  the  British  statesman,  George  Canning,  but 
Mr.  Monroe  adopted  the  idea  with  improvement 
and  enlargement. 

We  may  here  give  one  example  of  how  even  con 
temptible  little  countries  like  Portugal  looked  down 
upon  republics.  When  Lieutenant  Matthew  Cal- 
braith  Perry  called  upon  the  Portuguese  Governor 
at  Teneriffe,  in  the  Canary  Islands,  in  1815  or  1816, 
he  offered  to  tender  a  salute  to  the  Portuguese 
Governor,  provided  the  compliment  was  returned 
gun  for  gun.  The  Governor  replied  that  it  would 
give  him  great  pleasure  to  reply  to  the  salute,  but 
with  one  gun  less,  as  it  was  the  custom  of  Portugal 
to  return  an  equal  number  of  guns  only  to  acknowl 
edge  sovereigns,  but  to  republics  one  gun  short. 
Perry  plainly  replied  that  as  the  United  States 
acknowledged  no  nation  as  entitled  to  greater  re 
spect  than  itself,  no  salute  would  be  fired,  and  so 
the  American  man-of-war  went  out  in  silence. 

Monroe  had  been  a  student  who  left  his  college 
in  Virginia  and  books  to  be  a  soldier  in  the  Revo 
lutionary  War.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  Trenton. 
Now  as  President  he  took  his  oath  of  office,  near 
the  ruins  of  the  burnt  capitol  in  Washington. 
His  colleague,  Vice-President  Tompkins,  had 
been  the  great  war  Governor  of  New  York  in 
the  campaigns  of  1812—1815.  Tompkins  first 
proposed  officially  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 


148  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Empire    State,    and    after   him  one   of   its    central 
and  most  beautiful  counties  is  named. 

Under  Mr.  Monroe  "an  era  of  good  feeling" 
began.  The  President  travelled  through  New 
England,  where  many  of  the  old  Revolutionary 
veterans  were  delighted  to  see  him  wearing  the 
old  buff  and  blue.  All  sections  of  the  country 
were  reunited  in  fresh  loyalty  to  the  government. 
The  nation  gratefully  remembered  its  heroes  and 
made  generous  provisions  for  the  old  soldiers, 
pensioning  the  veterans  of  the  war  and  their 
widows  to  the  extent  of  $65,000,000. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE    SEMINOLE    AND    BLACK    HAWK    WARS. 

THE  next  war  that  broke  out,  when  our  regular 
army  consisted  of  about  ten  thousand  men,  be 
came  a  fresh  occasion  for  the  increase  of  United 
States  territory.  Florida  was  still  a  Spanish  pos 
session,  and  in  the  swamps  called  the  Everglades 
roamed  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  Seminoles.  Gov 
ernment  by  the  Spaniards  did  not  amount  to  very 
much  beyond  the  two  towns  of  St.  Marks  and 
Pensacola,  so  that  between  runaway  slaves,  bad 
Indians,  white  desperadoes  and  pirates,  the  whole 
territory  was  a  menace  to  the  people  of  the  South. 
The  President  ordered  General  Andrew  Jackson, 
with  the  regulars  and  volunteers  from  Georgia 
and  Tennessee  and  some  friendly  Creek  Indians, 
to  enter  the  region  and  secure  quiet. 

Jackson's  campaign  was  vigorously  conducted. 
Two  Englishmen  charged  with  inciting  the  Ind 
ians  to  incursions  and  massacre  were  tried  by 
court  martial,  sentenced  to  death,  and  hanged. 
This  act  of  Jackson  excited  great  indignation  in 
Great  Britain  and  Spain.  It  also  raised  perplex- 

149 


I5O  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

ing  questions  of  diplomacy,  which,  however,  were 
settled  in  1819,  when  Spain  ceded  Florida  to 
the  United  States  for  the  sum  of  $5,000,000. 
Our  southern  frontier  was  thus  rectified  and 
sixty  thousand  square  miles  were  added  to  the 
United  States.  On  July  10,  1821,  the  red  and 
yellow  flag  of  Spain  was  hauled  down,  and  that 
of  the  United  States,  with  thirteen  stripes  and 
twenty-four  stars,  was  hoisted  at  all  the  military 
stations.  During  the  next  year  Florida  was  organ 
ized  as  a  territory,  but  from  1835  to  1842  was 
the  scene  of  almost  constant  Indian  wars. 

The  Seminoles  had  agreed  to  remove  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
was  delayed  in  Congress,  and  meanwhile  the  red 
men  of  the  swamps  became  dissatisfied  and  re 
fused  to  go,  while  outrages  were  committed  by 
both  whites  and  Indians.  The  tribe  was  divided  — 
one-half  agreeing  to  go  west,  while  the  other  half 
was  violently  excited  by  Osceola,  a  half-breed. 
This  man  of  spirit  and  ability  had  felt  himself  in 
jured,  because  his  wife,  a  fugitive  negro  slave,  had 
been  taken  away  from  him  by  her  owner.  When 
Osceola  protested,  using  language  which  the  army 
officers  considered  insulting,  he  was  imprisoned 
for  a  time  and  was  ever  afterward  bitter  and  re 
vengeful. 

Matters  began  to  look  very  warlike,  yet  few  prep- 


THE   SEMINOLE  AND   BLACK  HAWK    WARS.         151 

arations  were  made  to  guard  against  danger.  On 
the  28th  of  December,  as  Major  Dade  and  a  detach 
ment  of  no  men  were  moving  through  the  swampy 
country,  and  the  dark  woods  hung  with  long,  low 
beards  of  Florida  moss,  unable  to  see  their  deadly 
foes,  they  were  ambuscaded  and  surrounded  by 
invisible  marksmen.  After  a  long  and  brave  fight 
every  white  man  was  killed,  except  three  or  four 
who  feigned  death  and  escaped  to  tell  the  tale, 
which  is  still  recalled  by  the  stone  pyramid  com 
memorating  the  sad  event.  After  a  good  deal  of 
military  activity,  in  which  the  Seminoles  showed 
surprising  ability  in  war,  they  first  agreed  to  move 
west  late  in  1837,  and  then  refused  once  more. 
Osceola  was  captured  by  stratagem.  In  other 
words,  he  was  decoyed  within  our  lines.  Then, 
by  the  base  treachery  of  our  army  officers,  he  was 
knocked  down,  seized,  and  put  in  prison,  where  he 
died  —  another  foul  blot  on  our  country's  history. 
Although  Generals  Scott,  Clinch,  Heustis,  Jessup, 
Taylor,  and  Worth  took  part  in  this  Seminole  war, 
it  was  not  until  1842,  after  an  enormous  loss  of  life 
and  money,  that  the  Seminoles  yielded  and  crossed 
the  Mississippi.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  Gen 
eral  Worth,  by  his  truth,  honor,  wisdom,  and  kind- 
jri£ss-  to  the  Indians,  accomplished  as  much  as  all 
the  bullets  and  shell  of  the  soldiers. 

It  costs  vastly  more  to  kill  a  red  man  than  to  edu- 


152  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

cate  him.  Sooner  or  later  the  nation  has  to  pay  in 
blood  and  tears  and  money  for  cruelty,  treachery, 
and  unrequited  toil,  whether  of  red,  black,  or  yellow 
humanity.  Occasionally  it  is  good  to  review  a  war, 
after  the  blood  and  glory  are  over,  and  to  sum  up 
results.  How  was  it  in  the  matter  of  the  whites 
and  Seminoles  ?  Osceola  was  the  son  of  an  Eng 
lishman,  named  William  Powell,  and  an  Indian 
mother.  When  but  twelve  years  of  age  he  had 
come  under  the  influence  of  Tecumseh.  He  cared 
nothing  for  money  gained  by  robbery,  and  would 
allow  no  scalping  or  mutilation  of  the  dead.  He 
never  forgot  a  kindness.  His  wife  was  the  daughter 
of  a  fugitive  slave,  and  was  stolen  from  him  because 
she  was  a  slave,  and  when  Osceola  demanded  her 
release,  using  rough  language,  Colonel  Thompson 
ordered  him  put  in  irons. 

The  awful  results  of  this  lack  of  tact  in  dealing 
with  a  proud-spirited  Indian  were  seen.  Within  six 
months  Thompson  was  murdered,  a  battle  took 
place,  Dade's  men  were  massacred,  the  forts  at 
tacked,  and  in  the  spirited  actions  which  followed 
the  Indians  more  than  held  their  own  against  great 

o  o 

odds.  Finally  it  was  only  through  the  white  man's 
treachery  that  Osceola  was  seized.  It  was  like 
caging  an  eagle  to  put  this  chief  in  prison,  and  his 
proud  spirit  wore  out  his  body.  His  death  at  Fort 
Moultrie,  January  20,  1838,  was  worthy  of  a  noble 


THE   SEMINOLE  AND   BLACK  HAWK    WARS.          153 

son  of  the  forest.  Calling  for  his  best  war  dress,  he 
put  it  on.  Then,  unable  to  speak,  but  bidding  by 
grasp  of  the  hand  his  warriors  and  captors  farewell, 
he  drew  out  his  war  knife  from  its  sheath,  held  it  in 
his  right  hand,  and  crossing  the  blade  over  his  left 
on  his  breast  breathed  his  last. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  chapters 
in_the  history  of  a  long  "  century  of  dishonor"  in 
which  Americans  have  been  both  cruel  and  treach 
erous  to  the  sons  of  the  soil.  The  whole  story  of 
the  Florida  war  illustrates  again  the  wastefulness 
and  the  wickedness  of  much  of  our  dealing  with  the 
Indians. 

What  is  called  Black  Hawk's  War,  in  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  took  part  as  a  captain  of  volun 
teers,  broke  out  in  1832.  As  chief  of  the  Sac 
Indians,  Black  Hawk  had  resisted  the  settling  of 
Illinois  by  the  white  immigrants  from  the  East,  and 
in  the  War  of  1812  had  taken  the  part  of  the  British. 
Later,  he  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  been  removed 
from  their  old  hunting-ground  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Mississippi  River  and  compelled  to  go  westward. 
At  sixty-five  years  of  age,  still  restless,  dissatisfied, 
and  ambitious,  he  recrossed  the  Mississippi  River, 
hoping  to  recover  the  lands  formerly  held  by  his 
tribesmen.  All  such  hopes,  whether  of  Pontiac, 
Tecumseh,  or  Black  Hawk,  are  in  vain.  He  and 
his  warriors  were  defeated,  first  by  Colonel  Dodge, 


154  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  then,  finally  and  completely,  at  Bad  Axe,  Michi 
gan,  in  August,  1832,  by  General  Henry  Atkinson. 
Again  the  tribe  was  removed  westward.  Black 
Hawk,  his  sons,  and  a  few  warriors  were  kept  for 
a  while  as  hostages.  They  were  brought  to  the 
eastern  cities  that  they  might  see  the  power  of  the 
white  men  and  learn  how  foolish  resistance  was. 

I  have  heard  from  my  father,  who  knew  Black 
Hawk,  of  the  personal  dignity  of  this  chief.  Never 
theless  the  inland  Indians  do  not  like  the  salt  sea 
or  the  sea  air.  On  one  occasion  the  sachem  and 
his  braves  were  in  charge  of  my  father,  while  going 
from  one  city  to  another  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
They  squatted  in  their  blankets,  smoking  their 
calumets,  in  a  cosey,  sheltered  corner  below  deck, 
when  some  sailor  happened  to  open  a  hatchway 
that  let  in  a  blast  of  cold  air  and  spray.  Instantly 
the  whole  party  rose  up  and  fled  to  the  cabin, 
grunting  out,  "  Ugh  !  ugh  !  " 

Under  President  Monroe  the  great  national  road 
was  built  from  Wheeling  through  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  soon  the  traffic  was  immense,  as  the 
great  march  toward  the  setting  sun  continued. 

In  1824-1825  La  Fayette  visited  the  United 
States,  and  everywhere  received  a  warm  and  gratify 
ing  welcome.  To  this  day,  the  large  number  of  cities 
which  have  in  them  a  La  Fayette  Street  or  Avenue, 
and  of  towns  and  counties  named  after  him,  show 


THE   SEMINOLE  AND  BLACK  HAWK    WARS.         155 

how  deep  was  the  impression  he  made  upon  our 
grandfathers.  In  Philadelphia,  when  a  salute  was 
fired  in  his  honor  from  old  cannon  used  in  the 
Revolution,  he  recognized  one,  that  had  its  muzzle 
worn  on  the  under  side,  as  the  piece  which  he 
himself  had  saved  during  his  skilful  retreat  from 
Barren  Hill  to  Valley  Forge,  even  after  a  British 
cannon  shot  had  dismounted  it.  Lashing  the  gun 
to  a  wagon  belonging  to  John  Harby,  my  own 
great-grandfather,  though  its  muzzle  dragged  over 
the  rough  and  stony  road,  La  Fayette  saved  the 
piece.  He  drew  off  his  men,  also,  whom  the  Brit 
ish  and  Hessians  had  hoped  to  surprise  and  make 
prisoners.  I  used  to  hear,  from  my  grand-aunts 
and  grandmother,  who,  as  children  near  Valley 
Forge,  had  been  robbed  by  the  Hessians,  the  story 
of  La  Fayette's  impressment  of  their  father's  wagon ; 
and  how,  in  1825,  they  saw  the  once  young  gen 
eral,  now  an  old  man,  ride  down  Chestnut  Street 
in  Philadelphia. 

The  building  of  other  highways  to  the  west 
continued,  but  the  greatest  public  improvement, 
made  up  to  that  date  in  the  United  States,  was 
in  1825,  by  which  the  fresh  water  of  the  Great 
Lakes  was  poured  into  the  brine  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  Erie  Canal  was  dug  to  connect  the  Hudson 
River  at  Troy  with  Lake  Erie,  a  distance  of  363 
miles,  the  difference  in  level  being  over  six  him- 


156  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

dred  feet  in  favor  of  Buffalo.  As  the  Dutch  had 
long  before  conquered  up-hill  difficulties  by  the 
water  ladder  called  a  lock,  so  the  state  founded 
by  Dutchmen  could  dig  the  greatest  canal  then 
known.  During  eight  years  a  great  army  of  labor 
ers  cut  down  the  forests,  dug  the  ditch,  blasted 
the  rocks,  built  bridges  across  rivers,  and  set  the 
masses  of  masonry  so  that  the  water  and  boats 
could  be  carried  upward  and  over  all  obstacles. 

In  1825,  when  the  work  was  done,  Clinton  car 
ried  a  kegful  of  the  water  of  Lake  Erie  and 
poured  it  into  the  Hudson  River,  in  front  of  New 
York  City,  where  it  is  but  an  arm  of  the  ocean. 
When  the  water  was  let  into  the  artificial  river, 
a  line  of  cannon,  five  miles  apart,  boomed  the  news 
from  one  end  of  the  state  to  the  other.  The  canal 
was  soon  paid  for  by  its  own  revenue.  Freight, 
which  used  to  take  three  weeks  of  hauling  by 
wagon  and  team  over  roads  between  Albany  and 
Buffalo,  went  through  in  seven  days  and  at  one- 
thirtieth  the  cost.  The  whole  region  west  and 
southwest  of  New  York  now  attracted  an  enor 
mous  number  of  settlers  from  the  further  east. 
To-day  there  is  nowhere  in  the  world  a  finer  con 
tinuous  line  of  cities  than  between  Boston  and 
Buffalo.  Besides  the  traffic  of  stage-coaches  on 
land,  packet  boats  bore  on  the  bosom  of  the  canal 
many  thousand  passengers  to  and  fro. 


THE  SEMINOLE  AND  BLACK  HAWK    WARS.         157 

Travel  soon  began  to  be  even  more  rapid,  easy, 
and  inviting,  through  the  invention  of  the  loco 
motive.  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  who  had 
signed  his  name  to  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  and  who,  at  ninety  years  of  age,  was  the 
lone  survivor  of  fifty-six  eminent  men,  dug  the 
first  spadeful  of  earth  for  what  is  now  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  railway  system.  Peter  Cooper 
built  the  first  American  locomotive  at  Baltimore, 
running  it  on  the  road  built  from  Baltimore  to 
Ellicott's  Mills.  The  iron  horse  excelled  so  hand 
somely  the  one  of  flesh  and  blood,  both  in  speed 
and  endurance,  that  the  days  of  the  stage-coach 
were  numbered.  The  first  passenger  railway  be 
tween  the  Mohawk  and  the  Hudson,  or  Schenec- 
tady  and  Albany,  which  began  work  in  1831,  was 
drawn  by  the  engine  John  Bull,  which  was  ex 
hibited  as  a  curiosity  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair 
in  1893.  J°nn  Bull's  tender  carried  several  barrels 
of  wood  as  fuel,  and  the  cars  were  old  stage-coaches 
set  on  flanged  iron  wheels,  which  ran  on  strap- 
iron  tracks.  As  a  rule,  the  railway  systems  of  the 
United  States,  especially  those  first  made,  ran  for 
the  most  part  from  east  to  west,  or  in  the  way 
that  emigration  was  moving,  but  at  right  angles 
or  crosswise  to  the  courses  of  rivers. 

Slavery  from  the  very  first  had  been  a  dangerous 
element  in  our  free  country,  but  when  the  cotton 


158  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

gin  was  invented,  servile  labor  was  made  so  valu 
able  that  negro  bondage  became  more  and  more 
a  dividing  and  weakening  force  in  the  country. 
It  caused  the  northern  and  the  southern  people 
first  to  dislike  and  then  to  hate  each  other.  For, 
while  one  justified  slavery,  even  going  so  far  as 
to  twist  and  contort  the  Bible  to  support  the  in 
iquity,  the  other  not  only  branded  it  as  "  the  sum 
of  all  villanies,"  but  even  denounced  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States  for  approving  of  the 
"  institution."  Furthermore,  the  southern  people, 
by  raising  tobacco,  rice,  indigo,  and  cotton,  devot 
ing  their  energies  to  agricultural  production,  cared 
little  or  nothing  for  manufacturing  enterprises. 
They  wanted  to  buy  their  goods  and  tools  in 
Europe  at  low  rates.  The  northern  people,  being 
manufacturers,  had  different  interests,  and  wished 
to  prevent  European  goods  from  coming  in,  ex 
cept  under  heavy  tariff  duties.  They  demanded 
protection,  in  order  to  encourage  home  manufac 
tures  so  that  they  might  get  rich. 

A  new  era  began  when  Andrew  Jackson  of  Ten 
nessee  became  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
was  not  only  a  soldier  and  immensely  popular,  being 
usually  called  "  Old  Hickory,"  but  he  had  new  ideas, 
some  of  them  very  bad  and  some  of  them  very  good, 
about  governing  the  country.  Instead  of  thinking 
himself,  as  he  ought  to  have  done,  the  head  servant 


THE   SEMINOLE  AND   BLACK  HAWK    WARS.          159 

of  a  country  in  which  the  people  are  the  rulers,  he 
administered  the  government  as  if  it  were  his  family 
estate.  He  was  without  fear,  perfectly  honest,  but 
very  headstrong,  and  not  able  always  to  control  his 
temper.  Secretary  Marcy,  in  1832,  had  said,  "  To 
the  victors  belong  the  spoil."  Jackson  began  the 
shameful  "  spoils  system,"  removing  good  servants 
of  the  government  from  office,  in  order  to  put  in 
his  own  partisans.  Whereas  not  more  than  one  or 
two  hundred  persons  had  been  by  the  previous  six 
presidents  compelled  to  resign,  Jackson  turned  out 
about  two  thousand.  Thus  began  what  was  for 
many  years  our  disgraceful  civil  service. 

Many  people  were  afraid  of  Jackson  because,  in 
stead  of  having  had  an  education  in  books,  or  being 
a  dignified  Virginian,  he  was  a  "  western "  man ; 
and  yet  he  soon  showed  that  he  had  some  grand 
ideas  about  the  dignity  of  the  United  States  gov 
ernment. 

When  South  Carolina,  after  vainly  protesting 
against  the  high  tariff  demanding  free  trade,  de 
clared  that  after  a  certain  date  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  would  be  null  and  void,  and  that 
no  duties  on  goods  imported  from  Europe  would 
be  paid,  and  threatened  secession,  President  Jack 
son  ordered  General  Scott  to  Charleston  to  enforce 
the  laws.  This  was  done,  and  instead  of  the 
"  nullification  "  of  the  general  government,  it  was 


160  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

the  state  legislature's  resolution  that  came  to 
nothing. 

Already  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  the 
battle,  afterward  fought  in  blood,  had  begun  in 
words.  Robert  Hayne  and  John  C.  Calhoun  feared 
that  the  tendency  of  the  East  and  North  was  to 
centralize,  and  make  the  national  government  too 
strong  at  the  expense  of  the  states.  These  men 
upheld  the  extreme  doctrines  of  state  right,  state 
sovereignty,  nullification,  and  secession.  On  the 
other  side  Daniel  Webster  defended  the  Union 
and  national  supremacy  in  a  series  of  remarkable 
speeches.  These,  widely  read,  thrilled  the  Ameri 
can  heart  all  over  the  land.  They  educated  thou 
sands  of  young  men  to  be  the  patriots  of  1861. 
The  general  effect  of  this  great  debate  was  to 
consolidate  both  the  South  and  the  North  in  their 
differing  sentiments.  Thus  on  a  grander  scale  were 
debated  the  same  great  doctrines  of  national  su 
premacy  and  state  right,  the  same  problems  which 
had  been  presented  to  the  Federal  Dutch  republic 
in  the  days  of  Maurice  and  Barneveldt.  Jackson's 
prompt  action  maintained  the  Union.  Under  Henry 
Clay's  initiation  a  new  tariff  was  adopted,  which  for 
a  time  satisfied  and  removed  irritation. 

So  prosperous  was  the  country  that,  without  any 
public  debt,  the  surplus  from  the  treasury  was 
divided  among  the  different  states.  The  country 


THE   S EM  IN  OLE  AND   BLACK  HAWK    WARS.          l6l 

was  growing  rapidly.  Pennsylvania  coal,  the  best 
in  the  world,  fed  the  steamboats  that  were  now  run 
ning  in  most  of  our  large  rivers,  and  the  "  black  dia 
monds  "  were  everywhere  in  demand.  New  canals 
were  being  opened,  and  railways  were  constructed, 
most  of  them  headed  toward  the  Mississippi.  The 
great  express  business  was  in  its  infancy.  The 
foundations  of  Chicago  had  already  been  laid  by 
the  building  of  a  few  log  cabins.  There  are  still 
living  men  who  can  remember  when  this  second 
city  of  the  United  States  was  but  a  collection  of 
rude  frame  houses. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

OUR    NORTHWESTERN    EMPIRE. 

JACKSON'S  administration  was  especially  noted 
for  the  vigor  of  our  foreign  policy.  France  had 
long  owed  us  large  sums  from  a  long  series  of  spo 
liations  at  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century.  Naples  was  backward  and 
insolent  in  refusing  to  settle  just  American  claims 
for  vessels  seized  during  the  reign  of  Joseph  Bona 
parte  and  Murat.  By  able  negotiations  France  was 
brought  to  pay  up  her  debts,  but  Naples  still  refused 
to  settle. 

Summoning  Commodore  Patterson,  his  old  com 
rade  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  Jackson  ordered 
him  to  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  so  arranged  that 
six  of  our  men-of-war  should  arrive,  one  after  the 
other,  in  the  Bay  of  Naples.  This  they  did  in  hand 
some  style,  ranging  their  guns  opposite  the  main 
streets  of  the  city.  The  result  was  that  instead  of 
the  refusal  at  the  beginning  of  the  week,  all  claims 
were  paid  up  before  the  following  Sunday. 

To  extend  our  trade  in  the  far  East,  Mr.  Edmund 
Roberts  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  was  sent 
out  on  the  man-of-war  Peacock.  He  succeeded  in 

162 


OUR   NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  163 

making  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan  of  Muscat  and 
with  the  two  kings  of  Siam.  This  opened  Ameri 
can  trade  with  Zanzibar  and  the  Malay  Peninsula. 
Roberts  also  opened  negotiations  with  Cochin- 
China,  but  was  repulsed.  He  had  intended  also 
to  go  to  Peking,  and  hoped  to  open  trade  with 
Japan,  but  died  prematurely  at  Macao.  Our  for 
eign  commerce  increased  greatly  under  Jackson's 
administration. 

American  enterprise  at  the  ends  of  the  earth  was 
signally  illustrated  in  the  Wilkes  exploring  expedi 
tion,  from  1838  to  1842,  which  greatly  enriched 
science.  Most  of  the  vast  ice-hedged  Antarctic 
continent  was  discovered  and  the  Samoan  and 
Fiji  groups  of  islands  carefully  examined.  Besides 
Graham,  Alexandra,  Wilkes,  and  Enderby  lands, 
discovered  by  Commodore  Wilkes,  the  American 
flag  has  floated  over  the  Barber,  Palmyra,  Prospect, 
Fanning,  Christmas,  Starbuck,  Penrhyn,  Swan, 
Pitt,  McKean,  and  Hull  islands  in  Polynesia.  In 
later  years  the  voyages  of  Kane  and  other  Ameri 
can  explorers  have  made  known  the  northwest 
ern  part  of  Greenland  as  far  as  discovered,  called 
Lincoln  and  Grant  land  and  Grinnel  land  on  the 
opposite  shore  of  Smith  Sound.  Not  until  recent 
times  has  our  government  made  any  serious  attempt 
to  make  known  the  ownership  of  islands  that  are 
ours  by  right  of  discovery. 


1 64  THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

Although  we  had  no  national  debt,  yet,  because 
of  so  much  speculation  and  unwise  schemes,  there 
broke  out  in  1837  a  financial  panic.  Not  long  after 
that  the  Mormon  movement  began,  which  trans 
formed  Utah  desert  into  a  garden,  and  attracted 
many  thousand  emigrants  from  Great  Britain,  Nor 
way,  and  Sweden.  Steamship  lines  were  estab 
lished  on  the  ocean,  and  millions  of  people  crossed 
from  the  old  fatherlands  to  the  country  whose 
wealth  and  power  not  even  panic  could  paralyze. 

When  in  1845-1846  the  potato  crop  failed  in  the 
Emerald  Isle,  the  Irish  began  to  come  over  to  our 
country  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  This  led 
to  new  developments.  Within  a  few  years  some  of 
our  eastern  cities  were  practically  controlled  by 
Irishmen,  for  Patrick  takes  naturally  to  politics 
and  has  shown  considerable  ability  in  this  line  of 
achievement.  Besides  producing  men  eminent  in 
every  department  of  life,  Ireland  gave  us  many  re 
cruits  for  the  regular  army  and  militia,  producing  a 
noble  type  —  the  Irish-American  soldier.  The  dark 
side  of  the  Irish  is  seen  in  the  great  amount  of 
drunkenness  and  liquor  selling  among  them,  and  is 
especially  shown  in  lawlessness  and  wild  schemes, 
such  as  the  so-called  Fenian  republic,  which,  after 
getting  many  thousands  of  dollars  from  servant 
girls  and  ignorant  people,  ended  in  1866  and  1867 
in  an  absurd  failure  in  an  attempt  to  attack  Canada 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  165 

from  the  Vermont  frontier.  Even  as  early  as  Van 
Buren's  administration  attempts  were  made  to 
invade  Canada,  but  the  would-be  invaders  were 
scattered  by  Colonel  McNab  of  the  Canadian 
militia.  One  of  the  few  American  flags  captured 
by  the  British  and  to  be  seen  in  a  museum  at  Lon 
don  was  taken  about  this  time. 

After  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany  has  sent 
us  the  largest  number  of  immigrants,  followed 
in  their  order  by  Scandinavia,  Austria- Hungary, 
Italy,  and  Russia.  From  1820  to  1893  over  five 
million  German-speaking  people  entered  the  United 
States,  forming  excellent  material  for  the  building 
up  of  the  national  commonwealth,  because  soon 
absorbed  and  assimilated.  All  attempts  to  keep 
up  foreign  languages  and  peculiar  Old  World  cus 
toms  and  notions  in  the  United  States  end  sooner 
or  later  in  failure.  Common  sense  wins  the  day. 
Gaelic,  Dutch,  German,  and  French  folks,  even  the 
old  ones,  find  that  God  can  be  worshipped,  friend 
ships  maintained,  and  business  done  just  as  well  in 
English  as  in  the  language  of  their  ancestors. 

In  the  early  forties,  when  the  Dutch  King  Will 
iam  arbitrarily  interfered  with  the  affairs  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  the  Netherlands,  a  large  immi 
gration  under  Dominies  Van  Raalte  and  Scholten 
set  toward  North  America.  The  immigrants  passed 
through  the  Mohawk  Valley  or  up  the  Mississippi 


1 66  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

River  to  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska, 
where  dwell  their  descendants,  now  numbering  over 
a  hundred  thousand,  who  are  among  the  best  people 
of  the  United  States. 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  of  pure  Dutch  descent, 
and  one  of  the  ablest  of  our  statesmen.  Under 
him  the  opposition  to  slavery  was  established  in 
politics  and  a  system  of  nominating  presidential 
candidates  in  popular  conventions  carried  out.  The 
"  free  soilers  "  declared  that  Congress  had  no  more 
power  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a  king.  The 
words  of  one  political  campaign  song  ran,  "  Van, 
Van,  is  a  used-up  man."  Another  one  declared  for 
"  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too."  Indeed,  from  Jack 
son's  time,  the  American  people  seem  to  have  had  a 
characteristic  weakness  for  military  officers  as  presi 
dents.  The  first  presidents,  both  Federalists  and 
Republican-Democrats,  had  been  mainly  civilians. 
The  Democrats,  after  forty  years  of  victory,  had  to 
yield  now  to  the  Whigs,  whose  standard-bearer  was 
William  Henry  Harrison.  He  was  called  "  the  Log 
Cabin  candidate,"  because  after  his  military  cam 
paigns  in  the  Northwest  he  lived  on  a  farm,  on  a 
piece  of  land  cleared  of  forest  trees,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio. 

I  well  remember  how  in  my  boyhood  the  mantel 
pieces  were  ornamented  with  small  models,  in  stone 
or  glazed  earthenware,  of  a  log  cabin  with  a  coon 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  1 67 

on  the  roof  and  a  barrel  of  hard  cider  standing  by 
the  door.  Even  in  the  great  political  processions, 
many  miles  long,  there  were  log  cabins  on  wheels 
and  a  live  coon  on  the  ridge  pole  of  each.  Thus 
began  the  great  presidential  campaigns,  inaugurated 
by  the  policy  of  Van  Buren,  with  nominating  con 
ventions  which  blossomed  out  into  enormous  pa 
rades  with  torchlights,  "wide-awake"  uniforms,  bands 
of  music,  transparencies,  banners,  and  many  things 
funny  as  well  as  showy  and  expensive. 

President  Harrison  died  within  a  month  of  his 
inauguration.  Then  our  country  had  its  first,  and 
generally  disagreeable,  experience  of  vice-presidents 
becoming  presidents,  and  John  Tyler  occupied  the 
chair.  During  his  administration  Rhode  Island 
gave  up  its  antiquated  government  by  charter  and 
the  old  Dutch  system  of  representation  by  towns 
instead  of  by  voters.  An  agreement  was  made  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  called 
the  Webster-Ashburton  treaty,  by  which  war  was 
averted,  the  Maine  boundary  fixed,  and  an  Ameri 
can  squadron  under  Commodore  Perry  despatched 
to  Africa,  where  already  Monrovia  had  been  located 
and  settled  by  freed  slaves  from  America,  and  Liberia 
had  been  erected  into  a  republic. 

The  next  great  invention,  that  of  the  telegraph, 
was  to  give  the  railroads  an  amazing  development, 
lay  nerves  of  iron,  and  send  pulses  of  light  under 


1 68  .   THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

the  ocean,  and,  indeed,  give  the  world  a  new  nervous 
system,  annihilating  space  and  time.  Americans 
from  the  first  were  interested  in  and  developed  the 
science  which  has  received  its  name  from  the  Greek 
"  electron,"  or  amber,  because  this  substance  when 
rubbed  attracts  and  holds  hairs  or  bits  of  paper 
and  generates  "  electric  "  force.  Franklin,  in  Phila 
delphia,  drew  sparks  from  the  clouds  and  invented 
the  lightning  rod.  Professor  Moses  Farmer,  of 
Eliot,  Maine,  was,  after  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  great 
American  electrician.  Most  of  his  experiments  and 
machines  anticipated  what  has  since  been  accom 
plished  in  electric  traction,  lighting,  submarine  ex 
plosion,  and  telegraphing,  —  for  all  these  things  he 
accomplished  before  1850.  Professor  Joseph  Henry, 
in  the  Albany  Academy,  had  discovered  that  one 
could  ring  a  bell  at  a  distance,  and  get  other  work 
done  by  transmission  of  electric  energies  through 
a  wire. 

Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  an  artist,  who,  however, 
did  nothing  electrical,  put  Henry's  discovery  to  a 
grand  use.  He  invented  what  is  called  the  Morse 
Alphabet  of  lines  and  dots,  which  made  by  a 
telegraphic  transmitter  could  be  read  as  letters, 
and  so  made  into  syllables,  words,  and  sentences. 
Morse  secured  from  Congress  an  appropriation  of 
$30,000  to  have  wires  strung  from  Baltimore  to 
Washington.  In  the  Supreme  Court  room,  in  the 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  169 

capitol,  he  sent  and  received  the  message  from 
Numbers  xxiii.  23,  "What  hath  God  wrought?" 
Ezra  Cornell,  of  Ithaca,  New  York,  was  one  of  the 
first  to  see  the  vast  benefits  and  commercial  value 
of  the  new  invention.  As  the  Irish  servant  girl 
said,  "  He  invented  telegraph  poles."  Instead  of 
stretching  wires,  two  of  them  in  the  ground,  he  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  stringing  the  iron  threads,  well 
insulated,  up  in  the  air  and  of  using  the  earth  as 
the  return  circuit. 

Almost  as  wonderful  as  this  "  far-distance  writ 
ing  "  were  the  other  American  inventions,  which  one 
after  the  other  astonished  the  world,  such  as  the 
grain  elevator  and  steam  shovel,  the  steam  river 
dredge,  wire-card  and  wire-weaving  machine,  the 
eccentric  lathe,  the  revolver,  the  reaper  and  mower, 
the  sewing  machine,  the  ship's  propeller,  the  steam 
printing-press,  the  type-writer,  electric  dynamos  and 
motors,  the  telephone,  phonograph,  and  hundreds  of 
others. 

Our  territory  was  again  increased,  in  the  spring 
of  1845,  by  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Sam  Hous 
ton,  Stephen  Austin,  and  many  other  Americans 
had  settled  in  the  country,  then  a  part  of  Mexico. 
Tired  of  Mexican  anarchy  they  had  risen  in  arms, 
fought  battles  with  Santa  Anna,  won  a  great  victory 
at  San  Jacinto,  and  formed  an  independent  republic. 
After  more  than  one  request  for  admission  into  the 


I/O  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Union,  Texas  was  annexed  by  a  joint  resolution  of 
Congress.  Thus  a  territory  five  times  the  size  of  Eng 
land  was  added  to  the  domain  of  the  United  States. 
James  K.  Folk's  administration  was  marked  by 
another  tremendous  expansion  of  the  United  States, 
both  on  the  north  and  the  south  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
Heretofore  the  great  region  of  the  Northwest,  be 
tween  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  between  that  part  of  the  North  American  conti 
nent  claimed  by  Russia,  and  that  part  below  claimed 
first  by  Spain  and  later  by  Mexico,  was  an  unknown 
region  not  definitely  belonging  to  any  nation.  Cap 
tain  Gray,  in  the  ship  Columbia,  who  first  carried 
the  American  flag  around  the  world,  had  named 
the  Columbia  River.  Van  Couver,  a  British  sea 
captain  of  Dutch  name,  had  made  exploration  of 
the  waters  around  the  island  which  bears  his  name. 
Young  William  Cullen  Bryant,  a  boy  just  out  of 
college,  had  written  the  poem  "  Thanatopsis,"  which 
for  a  generation  or  two  afterward  was  a  favorite 
on  the  school  rostrum  and  elocution  platform.  In 
it  occurs  the  words  suggesting  distance,  desolate 
silence,  loneliness,  and  the  unknown  dead:  — 

"  Take  the  wings 

Of  morning ;  traverse  Barca's  desert  sands, 
Or  lose  thyself  in  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no  sound 
Save  its  own  dashing  —  yet,  the  dead  are  there." 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  I/ 1 

It  was  known  that  there  were  splendid  moun 
tains,  rivers,  and  fertile  lands  on  that  Pacific  slope. 
Yet,  though  the  Spaniards  from  Ferrelo  in  1543, 
and  the  Englishmen,  Sir  Francis  Drake  in  1578 
and  Captain  Cook,  and  numerous  American  ex 
plorers  and  traders  had  visited  the  ocean's  rim  and 
the  beach,  none  had  gone  inland  to  explore.  Even 
the  coast-line  was  but  slightly  known,  until  Captain 
Robert  Gray,  a  Boston  trader,  entered  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River  on  the  nth  of  May,  1792, 
and  thus  secured  the  foundation  of  the  American 
title  to  Oregon.  A  trading  post  was  begun  in  May, 
1810,  but  abandoned  in  a  few  weeks.  The  Pacific 
Fur  Company  founded  Astoria  on  March  22,  1811. 
In  1818  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  made 
a  treaty  of  joint  occupation.  The  Hudson  Bay 
Company  was  at  first  anxious  to  have  the  place 
kept  unsettled,  so  that  wild  animals  should  be 
numerous  and  the  crop  of  furs  large;  but  American 
Christian  people,  obedient  to  their  Master's  com 
mand,  sent  out  missionaries  as  early  as  1834.  The 
Methodists  founded  a  mission  under  Jason  Lee, 
while  the  American  Board  sent  out  Rev.  Dr.  Parker, 
who  was  supported  in  part  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  by  the  town  of  Ithaca,  New  York.  It 
was  he  who  prevailed  upon  young  Marcus  Whitman 
and  his  wife  to  come  out  and  help.  The  bride 
and  groom,  though  warned  that  no  passage  on 


1/2  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST, 

wheels  could  be  made  into  Oregon,  succeeded  in 
crossing  the  mountains. 

Gradually  other  Americans  came  into  the  coun 
try.  This  roused  the  fears  and  jealousy  of  the 
British,  who  wished  to  claim  this  region  wholly  for 
Great  Britain.  At  a  dinner  table  where  Marcus 
Whitman  was  present,  they  expressed  their  inten 
tion  of  occupying  and  taking  formal  possession  of  the 
Pacific  slope,  the  following  spring.  Thereupon  Whit 
man  determined  to  ride  to  Washington  over  the 
mountains,  and  prairies,  and  rivers,  in  the  heart  of 
winter  and  to  state  the  case  to  President  Tyler  and 
ask  that  the  country  might  be  occupied  by  Ameri 
can  settlers.  Dressed  in  frontier  costume,  he  rode 
through  the  blizzards,  forded  or  ferried  the  icy 
rivers,  faced  the  storms,  slipped  past  the  hostile 
Indians,  and,  though  often  near  the  border  line  of 
death  from  cold  and  starvation,  he  reached  in  health, 
though  terribly  frost-bitten  and  nearly  exhausted, 
the  first  place  he  could  call  home.  This  was  on  the 
doorsteps  of  Dr.  Parker,  in  Ithaca,  where  still  stands 
the  house  at  which  this  heroic  missionary,  frontiers 
man,  and  commonwealth  builder  arrived. 

From  Ithaca  Dr.  Whitman  went  quickly  to  Wash 
ington,  and  in  the  presence  of  President  Tyler  and  his 
cabinet  argued  that  the  fair  and  fertile  country  of 
Oregon  ought  to  be  occupied  by  American  settlers. 
Getting  the  government's  encouragement,  he  at- 


OUR  NORTHWESTERN  EMPIRE.  173 

tracted  two  hundred  families,  numbering  seven 
hundred  people,  to  the  task  of  colonization  and  ex 
pansion.  With  their  long  wagon  trains  they  moved 
over  the  prairies,  rivers,  and  mountains,  during 
the  summer  of  1843.  Settling  in  the  valley  of 
the  Oregon,  a  provisional  government  was  formed 
and  the  whole  northwestern  coast  came  under  the 
American  flag. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  diplomacy  necessary 
before  our  exact  northern  boundaries  were  settled 
and  our  frontier  rectified.  Russia  made  claims 
which  neither  Great  Britain  nor  the  United  States 
would  allow,  and  the  boundary  line  northward  of 
the  United  States,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
had  not  been  settled  by  the  peace  of  1783.  Yet, 
although  there  were  great  cries  of  "  The  British 
must  go,"  and  "  Fifty-four  forty,  or  fight,"  yet  the 
two  English-speaking  peoples,  by  the  Webster-Ash- 
burton  treaty  of  1846,  settled  their  differences  in  a 
friendly  way.  The  two  nations  agreed  to  divide  the 
territory,  the  Americans  taking  the  land  between 
parallels  42  and  49,  which  included  the  great  Colum 
bia  River  and  valley,  and  the  British  from  parallel  49 
to  Alaska.  The  actual  boundary  line  was  run  by 
surveyors  along  the  49th  parallel,  and  marked  by 
stones  and  iron  pillars  placed  a  mile  apart. 

Thus,  once  more,  the  Americans  became  expan 
sionists,  and  increased  the  national  territory  by  the 


TJNIVERE 


174          rHE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

addition  of  more  territory  than  Texas  contained, — 
in  Idaho,  Washington,  and  Oregon,  or  two  hundred 
and  fifty-five  thousand  square  miles.  All  this  was 
obtained  by  good  diplomacy,  without  an  ounce  of 
powder  or  a  drop  of  blood  being  wasted. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

OLD  "  ROUGH  AND  READY  "  IN  MEXICO. 

A  GREAT  many  wars  arise  from  mere  questions 
of  boundaries.  Much  bloodshed  would  have 
been  saved  in  the  history  of  the  world  if  survey 
ing  had  been  properly  attended  to,  and  the  chain 
and  cross-staff  had  been  brought  in  as  proof  of 
right,  instead  of  ball  and  powder.  The  more  en 
gineering  enters  into  questions  of  land,  or  what 
the  Germans  call  "  agrar-politik,"  the  less  likely  are 
bloody  quarrels  to  arise. 

William  Penn  and  his  heirs  set  the  good  example 
and  precedent  of  having  a  correct  line  drawn  by 
the  best  British  men  of  science,  and  his  heirs  paid 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  for  the  good  work  done. 
Washington  was  as  good  an  engineer  and  surveyor 
as  he  was  a  general  and  statesman.  Wisely  did 
President  Cleveland  recommend,  and  Congress  ap 
propriate  money  for,  the  Venezuela  Boundary  Com 
mission.  Great  Britain  was  one  of  the  first  countries 
to  be  well  measured  and  mapped,  and  to  maintain 
an  ordnance  survey.  With  us  it  became  quite  early 
the  custom  to  send  out  from  Washington  geological 

'75 


I?6  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

surveyors  with  exploring  parties,  so  as  to  see  what 
were  the  resources  of  the  country. 

When  new  states,  especially,  are  formed,  it  is 
above  all  things  necessary  first  to  have  the  boun 
daries  determined  with  exactness ;  or,  in  Lord  Bea- 
consfield's  words,  to  secure  a  "scientific  frontier." 
Yet  when  Texas  was  admitted  as  a  state  in  1845, 
this  question  was  undecided.  The  Texans  fixed 
their  boundary  line  at  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  west. 
They  also  claimed  that  all  the  territory,  up  to 
the  42d  parallel,  on  the  northwest,  was  theirs. 
Mexico,  on  the  contrary,  drew  the  boundary  at  the 
Nueces  River,  or  a  hundred  miles  eastward.  So 
here  was  one  of  those  debatable  strips  of  land,  lying 
between  a  weak  and  a  powerful  nation  and  almost 
certain  to  be  grasped  and  held  by  the  stronger  of 
the  two.  So  it  happened  with  the  5O-mile  "  neu 
tral  strip  "  between  China  and  Korea,  which,  after 
remaining  unoccupied  for  two  centuries,  was  in 
1877  possessed  by  the  Chinese,  and  the  frontier  of 
China  pushed  many  leagues  nearer  the  rising  sun. 
The  policy  of  Li  Hung  Chang  and  President 
Tyler  was  the  same.  The  President  ordered  Gen 
eral  Zachary  Taylor  to  occupy  the  land.  Old 
"  Rough  and  Ready,"  as  he  was  afterward  called, 
built  Fort  Texas  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  The  Mexicans  ordered  him  to  leave. 
He  refused.  Then  the  Mexican  infantry  and 


OLD   "ROUGH  AND   READY"   IN  MEXICO.  177 

lancers  crossed  over  on  what  President  Tyler  in 
his  message  called  "  American  soil." 

On  May  i  General  Taylor  marched  out  with 
most  of  his  troops  toward  Point  Isabel,  where  were 
his  supplies,  then  threatened  by  General  Arista. 
In  his  absence  an  attack  was  made  on  Fort  Texas, 
which  was  gallantly  defended  by  Major  Brown  of 
the  seventh  infantry,  after  whom  the  fort  was  later 
named.  When  Taylor  heard  of  the  hostilities  begun 
by  the  Mexicans,  he  started  on  May  7  to  relieve  Major 
Brown.  General  Arista,  learning  of  this,  drew  off  his 
forces,  about  six  thousand  strong,  and  in  the  tall  grass 
at  a  place  called  Palo  Alto  waited  for  the  Ameri 
cans.  A  battle  began  which  lasted  five  hours;  but, 
although  there  was  a  good  deal  of  firing  and  smoke, 
the  two  armies  never  got  close  enough  to  do  much 
execution.  In  those  days  of  smooth-bore  muskets 
and  "ball  and  buck,"  —  the  cartridges  being  made 
of  paper  and  having  at  the  end  a  big  round  leaden 
ball  with  three  buck-shots,  —  men  might  fire  all  day 
without  hitting  each  other,  unless  they  got  within 
a  range  of  a  few  hundred  feet.  When  the  Ameri 
cans  charged,  the  Mexicans  retreated  with  a  loss  of 
one  hundred  men.  It  was  the  splendid  field-gun 
practice  of  the  Americans  that  decided  the  battle, 
and  though  Major  Ringgold  was  killed,  yet  "  Ring- 
gold's  light  artillery  "  at  once  became  famous. 

The  next  day  Arista,  having  taken  up  his  position 


178  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

behind  intrenchments  near  the  ravine  of  the  palm 
trees,  or  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  which  crossed  the 
Matamoras  road  about  three  miles  north  of  the 
town,  hoped  to  annihilate  Taylor's  force.  This 
time  it  was  the  cavalry  that  won  the  victory.  Cap 
tain  Charles  May,  with  his  famous  dragoons,  made 
a  gallant  charge,  sabring  the  Mexican  gunners,  cap 
turing  the  cannon  in  the  batteries,  and  pursuing  the 
enemy  to  the  river,  making  the  victory  complete. 

In  place  of  the  gay  departure,  a  few  days  before, 
of  brilliantly  uniformed  men,  sallying  out  hopefully 
to  expectant  victory,  cheered  by  the  smiles  and 
plaudits  of  beautiful  women,  was  the  return  of  a 
beaten  army  to  Matamoras  discouraged  and  dis 
organized.  ,  On  the  1 8th  General  Taylor  crossed 
the  Rio  Grande  and  occupied  the  city,  but  was 
unable,  from  lack  of  supplies,  to  follow  up  his 
success. 

President  Tyler  sent  a  message  to  Congress,  say 
ing  that  the  Mexicans  had  spilled  blood  on  our 
territory ;  but  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Illinois,  introduced  what  were 
called  the  "  spot  resolutions,"  demanding  to  know 
the  exact  spot  where  American  blood  had  been 
shed.  War  was  duly  declared.  When  a  call  for 
fifty  thousand  volunteers  was  made,  most  of  the 
states  responded  with  alacrity,  and  the  enthusiastic 
volunteers  were  at  once  put  under  discipline  and 


6ft 


CAPTAIN    MAY'S    CHARGE   AT    RESACA    DE    LA   PALMA. 


^~~OF  THK""*P 

UNIVERSITY 


OLD   "ROUGH  AND  READY"   IN  MEXICO.  179 

training  by  officers  of  the  regular  army.  The 
country  was  determined  that  the  miserable  failures 
of  1812  should  not  again  be  repeated.  At  this  time 
our  military  officers  in  the  upper  grades  were  men 
of  signal  ability,  having  had  long  experience  in 
rough  lands  and  the  Indian  campaigns.  The 
Southern  States  were  especially  forward,  for  the 
people  who  believed  in  servile  labor  expected  to 
win  a  large  amount  of  new  territory,  where  black 
slaves  should  be  worked  without  wages.  Some 
Power,  not  ourselves,  decided  otherwise.  It  turned 
out  that  over  all  the  new  region  there  is  not  to-day 
a  single  slave. 

While  the  new  army  of  militia  was  being  formed, 
the  regulars  were  waiting  for  reinforcements,  supplies 
and  means  of  transportation  were  being  furnished, 
the  iron  ore  in  the  ground  was  being  transformed 
into  ammunition,  the  hides  fresh  from  the  flocks 
were  being  tanned  out  and  sewed  into  accoutre 
ments,  and  all  the  supply  train  of  a  great  army  was 
being  got  ready;  the  Mexicans  also  prepared  for 
defence  and  gathered  new  forces. 

At  the  end  of  summer  General  Taylor  moved 
forward  into  Mexico  with  his  able  assistants,  Worth, 
Twigg,  and  Butler;  he  reached  Monterey,  which 
was  a  strongly  fortified  city  and  amply  garrisoned 
under  General  Ampudia.  Taylor  began  the  battle, 
which  lasted  three  days.  There  was  heavy  fighting 


180  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  the  batteries  were  taken  by  assault.  Ampudia 
surrendered  on  the  24th.  Taylor  made  generous 
terms,  allowing  the  Mexicans  to  retire  with  their 
arms,  though  he  kept  possession  of  the  city. 

The  plan  of  campaign  as  at  first  made  was  to 
invade  Mexico  from  the  north  by  land  and  in  three 
divisions,  —  the  western,  eastern,  and  centre.  Such 
a  campaign  meant  the  spreading  of  our  little  army 
over  a  vast  extent  of  hostile  country  where  trans 
portation  would  be  difficult  and  the  climate  uncer 
tain,  while  no  vital  blow  could  be  struck  at  the 
enemy.  Mexico,  the  land  of  the  cactus,  the  eagle, 
and  the  serpent,  was  too  large  for  scattered  cam 
paigns.  Scientific  warfare  demands  that  the  enemy 
be  pierced  in  his  vitals. 

The  best  strategy  in  1846  required  that  the  main 
army  should  land  at  a  point  on  the  seacoast  nearest 
the  capital  and  move  at  once  to  capture  it,  the  city 
of  Mexico.  Geography  is  half  of  war.  From  the 
time  of  Cortez  to  the  last  invasion  of  Mexico,  under 
Napoleon  III,  the  invader's  ships  have  always 
gathered  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  Rich  City  of  the  True 
Cross.  While  the  right  wing  of  our  army  moved 
to  California,  and  Taylor  held  the  centre,  Scott  led 
the  left  wing  by  the  sea  to  attack  the  city  of  Mexico. 
So  the  main  preparations  by  the  government  at 
Washington  —  William  L.  Marcy  being  Secretary 
of  War  and  John  Y.  Mason  being  Secretary  of  the 


OLD   "ROUGH  AND  READY"   IN  MEXICO.  l8l 

Navy  —  were  devoted  to  forming  and  equipping 
Scott's  army.  Two  fleets,  one  of  transports,  which 
should  carry  the  volunteers  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  the 
other  of  war  vessels,  which  should  capture  or  block 
ade  the  Mexican  seaports,  were  fitted  out.  In  the 
Pacific  Ocean  our  warships,  under  Stockton,  were 
to  keep  the  enemy  in  alarm.  General  Taylor  had 
to  yield  to  Scott  most  of  his  best  troops  in  Quit- 
man's  and  Worth's  division.  He  thus  became, 
for  a  time,  little  more  than  a  drill-master  of  raw 
volunteers. 

At  this  time  our  flag  had  twenty-eight  stars,  for 
Texas  was  the  twenty-eighth  state  admitted  into  the 
Union.  Nine  of  the  new  states  since  1783  had  been 
first  settled  by  the  French,  and  one  by  the  Spanish. 

The  Army  of  the  West,  though  smallest  in  num 
bers,  performed  a  work  of  great  labor  and  with  much 
hazard,  though  with  very  little  popular  notice  or 
glory  at  the  time.  Most  of  this  force,  consisting  of 
about  eighteen  hundred  men,  were  volunteers  from 
Missouri.  Under  General  S.  W.  Kearny  they 
moved  against  New  Mexico  and  California.  Across 
the  desert,  where  there  was  danger  of  dying  from 
thirst,  beside  perils  from  Indians  and  from  endless 
toil,  a  march  of  two  months  began.  On  the  i8th  of 
August,  1846,  they  reached  Santa  Fe.  While  Colo 
nel  Price  remained  in  command  of  New  Mexico, 
General  Kearny  with  one  hundred  cavalry  soldiers 


1 82          THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

pressed  on  toward  the  Pacific  waters.  In  this  brave 
and  hazardous  undertaking  he  lost  some  of  his  men 
on  the  march  and  more  in  a  battle  at  San  Pasquel. 
When  left  with  sixty  troopers,  expecting  to  be  entirely 
cut  off,  he  was  delighted  to  find  a  rescuing  party 
sent  to  him  overland  from  our  fleet.  Our  sailors, 
under  Commodore  Sloat,  had  taken  possession  of 
Monterey,  in  California,  while  Commander  Mont 
gomery  had  seized  San  Francisco.  Captain  John 
C.  Fremont,  an  engineer  officer  in  charge  of  a  sur 
veying  party,  had  raised  the  American  flag  at  several 
points.  The  story  of  this  officer  is  one  of  the  most 
romantic  in  American  annals. 

Fremont  was  the  son  of  a  French  immigrant  who, 
though  left  an  orphan  at  four  years  of  age,  made  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  Commissioned  lieutenant  of 
engineers,  he  became  the  great  "  pathfinder."  He 
explored  the  Northwest,  the  Rocky  Mountain  re 
gions,  the  wonderful  scenery  of  high  California,  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  the  Sa'n  Joaquin  and  Sacramento 
valleys,  and  the  Apache  country.  He  thus  made 
known  the  geography  of  our  great  far  western 
regions.  In  1845  he  was  again  on  his  way  to  the 
Pacific.  Receiving  authority  from  Washington,  he 
conquered  all  upper  California,  and  surveyed  the 
route  for  a  great  road  from  the  Mississippi  to  San 
Francisco.  He  pierced  the  hitherto  unknown  coun 
try  of  the  terrible  Apaches,  and  defeated  them  in 


OLD   "ROUGH  AND   READY"   IN  MEXICO.  183 

battle.  He  reached  Sacramento  after  a  hundred 
days  of  marching  and  surveying. 

Already  our  American  pioneers  had  settled  on 
the  river.  It  was  rumored  that  the  Mexicans  were 
negotiating  with  Great  Britain  for  the  sale  of  Cali 
fornia,  and  that  the  Mexican  Governor,  General  De 
Castro,  was  on  the  march.  The  settlers  took  up 
arms  and  joined  Fremont's  camp.  Having  cap 
tured  a  Mexican  post  with  some  cannon  and  mus 
kets,  he  routed  De  Castro  and  his  force  on  the  5th 
of  July.  The  settlers  declared  themselves  indepen 
dent  and  elected  Fremont  Governor  of  the  province, 
and  the  American  forces,  naval  and  military,  were 
joined  at  Monterey.  Other  operations  on  the  Pa 
cific  coast  were  the  battles  at  San  Gabriel  and  the 
Mesa  River,  January  8  and  9,  1847,  in  which 
the  Mexicans  failed  to  regain  the  ground  they 
had  lost.  Among  other  detached  enterprises  was 
the  capture  of  Mazatlan  under  Commodore  Shu- 
brick. 

Our  navy  made  a  brilliant  record  during  the 
Mexican  war,  both  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  in 
the  Gulf  waters.  Our  blockading  vessels  were  sta 
tioned  at  Tampico,  Tobasco,  Alvarado,  and  Tuspan, 
and  prevented  supplies  from  reaching  the  enemy. 
The  "  mosquito  fleet "  of  small  gunboats  was  very 
useful  for  service  in  rivers,  and  several  gallant  ac 
tions  were  performed  in  the  capture  of  these  sea- 


184  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

port  towns.  At  the  beginning,  the  chief  officer  in 
command  was  Commodore  Conner. 

These  were  the  days  of  the  infancy  of  steam  in 
war.  The  Missouri,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Prince 
ton  were  about  the  only  large  war  steamers  in  the 
American  navy.  So  the  Gulf  squadron  was  divided. 
Commodore  Conner,  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812, 
took  charge  of  the  sailers,  and  Commodore  Matthew 
C.  Perry  of  the  steamers.  Having  no  ships  of  light 
draught,  Conner  had  been  able  to  accomplish  little, 
and  the  splendid  opportunities  of  the  first  year 
were  lost.  So  the  main  squadron  lay  idly  off 
Sacrificios  Island,  out  of  range  of  Mexican  forts. 
Spy-glasses  were  pointed  daily  at  the  flag-ship  for 
signals  to  begin  action,  but  they  did  not  come. 

Meanwhile,  to  rouse  the  drooping  spirits  of  our 
tars,  Perry  planned  the  capture  of  Tobasco,  where 
Cortez  had  fought  his  first  battle.  Here  lay  some 
vessels  and  boats,  which  were  just  the  sort  needed 
for  the  uses  of  the  squadron.  In  the  big  steamer 
Mississippi,  towing  the  Vixen,  Bonita,  Reefer,  No- 
nita,  Me  Lane,  and  Forward,  with  two  hundred 
marines  from  the  frigates  Raritan  and  Cumberland, 
Perry  dashed  across  the  sand  bar,  almost  before  the 
Mexicans  knew  of  his  arrival,  and  captured  the 
town.  During  the  next  two  days,  going  up  the  river 
with  the  small  steamers  and  boats  to  Frontera,  this 
place  also  was  seized,  but  after  the  treachery  of  the 


OLD  "ROUGH  AND   READY"   IN  MEXICO.  185 

Mexicans  was  bombarded  and  evacuated.  Our 
squadron  returned  safely  to  Vera  Cruz.  New  spirit 
was  infused  into  the  navy,  and  the  name  of  Perry 
became  a  rallying  cry.  Tampico,  210  miles  north 
of  Vera  Cruz,  was  the  next  place  to  be  attacked. 
The  city  had  sent  a  crack  battalion  and  even  an 
artillery  company,  made  up  of  deserters  from  our 
camps,  to  Santa  Anna's  army.  Indeed,  the  crafty 
Mexican  hoped  that  all  of  General  Taylor's  Irish 
soldiers,  who  were  Roman  Catholics,  would  desert 
because  three  or  four  score  had  done  so.  In  this 
Santa  Anna  was  mistaken,  for  the  Irishmen  stood 
faithfully  to  the  stars  and  stripes.  Yet  hoping  both 
to  weaken  the  Americans  and  to  strengthen  his 
forces  with  the  Tampico  garrison,  Santa  Anna 
ordered  the  city  evacuated.  As  the  fleet  with  the 
two  commodores  moved  up  the  river,  our  men  wit 
nessed  a  beautiful  sight.  It  was  the  star-spangled 
banner  waving  in  triumph  over  the  city,  and  hoisted 
by  a  woman's  hand.  The  wife  of  the  banished 
American  Consul  bravely  remained  and  welcomed 
her  countrymen.  Captain  Josiah  Tattnall,  who  after 
ward  in  China  quoted  the  famous  phrase  "  Blood 
is  thicker  than  water,"  was  sent  eight  miles  further 
up  the  river,  and  captured  the  town  of  Panuco. 
Then  Perry  was  despatched  with  "  the  pride  of 
the  navy,"  the  steam  frigate  Mississippi,  to  New 
Orleans. 


1 86  THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

It  was  considered  a  great  thing,  in  those  days, 
that  this  steamer  was  able  to  go  so  swiftly,  first  to 
Matamoras  for  reinforcements,  to  get  troops  from 
General  Patterson  for  a  garrison  to  hold  Tampico, 
and  thence  to  New  Orleans  to  procure  intrenching 
tools,  wheel-barrows,  a  field  battery,  soldiers,  and 
provisions,  and  within  one  week  to  deliver  these  in 
Tampico.  Perry's  next  exploit  was  to  capture  the 
town  of  Laguna  del  Carmen,  which  he  did  hand 
somely.  He  thus  supplied  plenty  of  good  food  for 
the  squadron. 

General  Taylor's  battles  were  sanguinary,  but  not 
decisive.  Mexico  was  too  large  to  be  affected  by  a 
little  bloodshed  on  the  northern  border.  Named 
after  the  tutelary  divinity  Mexitl,  it  is  shaped  like 
a  cornucopia,  1950  miles  long  and  750  miles  wide 
in  its  upper  portion,  and,  tapering  in  the  south,  con 
tains  756,232  square  miles.  It  is  so  vast  in  area 
that  most  of  the  Mexicans  hardly  knew  there  was 
an  American  army  on  the  soil.  Hence  the  neces 
sity  of  striking  at  the  vitals  of  the  country  and  of 
sealing  the  seaports. 

While  Scott  was  still  in  the  United  States,  gather 
ing  and  drilling  his  army,  Perry  was  sent  north  to 
have  the  Mississippi  refitted  and  to  collect  light- 
draught  steamers  suitable  for  blockade  duty.  These 
steamers  were  the  Scourge,  Scorpion,  Vesuvius, 
Hecla,  Electra,  /Etna,  Stromboli,  and  Decatur. 


OLD   "ROUGH  AND   READY"    IN  MEXICO.  l8/ 

What  stinging  and  volcanic  names !  Indeed,  to 
savage  and  half-civilized  men  the  first  idea  of  a 
steamship  is  that  it  has  a  volcano  at  work  inside 
the  hull  and  used  to  turn  the  wheels. 

Santa  Anna,  relying  on  the  strong  fortifications 
at  Vera  Cruz  to  keep  back  the  Americans,  gathered 
a  great  army  in  the  north,  expecting  to  defeat 
Taylor  and  then  turn  against  Scott.  Hearing  of 
the  Mexican's  approach  with  twenty  thousand  men, 
Taylor,  who  had  only  five  thousand  men,  mostly 
new  volunteers  who  had  never  been  in  battle,  fell 
back  to  get  the  advantage  of  position  on  the  plain 
of  Angostura.  This  is  near  the  beautiful  place 
called  Buena  Vista,  which  means  bellevue  or  fine 
outlook.  The  ground  was  composed  of  mountain 
ridges,  narrow  defiles,  and  impassable  ravines. 

Taylor's  fresh  volunteers  were  enthusiastic,  and 
had  confidence  in  their  commander.  When  he 
rode  up  and  down  the  ranks  and  called  them  his 
"  fighting  cocks,"  they  were  ready  to  follow  or  to 
stand  by  their  leader,  come  what  might.  They 
were  dressed  in  blue  roundabout  coats,  and  blue 
trousers  with  white  stripe  along  the  side,  and  wore 
flat  round  caps.  They  carried  muskets  and  white 
cross-straps  and  belt. 

The  first  battle,  which  began  on  Washington's 
birthday,  was  little  more  than  a  skirmish.  The 
next  day  Santa  Anna  hurled  his  whole  force  with 


1 88  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

terrible  energy  upon  the  American  column,  but 
our  men  stood  firm.  Fortune  varied.  The  Mexi 
cans,  after  being  repeatedly  beaten  back,  returned 
resolutely  to  the  charge.  Both  sides  showed  equal 
bravery  and  obstinacy.  At  last  Santa  Anna,  find 
ing  that  he  made  no  progress,  had  to  give  up  and 
retire.  The  American  loss  was  about  seven  hun 
dred,  and  the  Mexican  twenty-five  hundred,  beside 
a  large  number  of  deserters.  The  Americans  were 
in  control  of  the  battlefield  and  of  that  district  of 
country. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT  VERA  CRUZ. 

THE  largest  squadron  that  had  heretofore  ever 
assembled  under  the  American  flag  —  steamers, 
sailing  ships,  and  bomb  vessels  —  was  put  under 
command  of  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry.  Yet  so 
economical  was  our  government,  that  this  Mat 
thew,  the  brother  of  Oliver,  the  hero  of  Lake 
Erie,  though  called  a  commodore,  was  only  a  cap 
tain  with  a  broad  pennant.  The  scores  of  trans 
ports  carrying  the  volunteers  were  delayed  at  the 
Bahama  Islands,  waiting  for  a  change  of  wind, 
and  there  were  passed  by  the  swift  steamers. 
After  many  of  those  vexatious  delays,  which  so 
try  the  spirits  of  young  volunteers,  they  at  last 
caught  sight  of  the  crosses  over  the  cathedral 
and  churches  in  the  Rich  City  of  the  True  Cross, 
and  perching  on  them  the  vultures,  which  in 
Spanish  cities  are  the  black  scavenger  angels. 
In  1899,  after  the  Americans  had  cleared  the 
streets  of  Santiago  in  Cuba,  the  vultures  began 
to  starve. 

As  day  by  day  ships  came  in  with  flags  flying 

189 


I QO  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  bands  of  music  playing,  loaded  with  enthusi 
astic  volunteers  from  the  North,  a  floating  city 
gathered  in  the  harbor,  or  rather  the  offing,  of 
Vera  Cruz.  It  was  necessary  to  act  promptly, 
however,  for  during  six  months  of  the  year  the 
vomito,  or  yellow  fever,  threatened  the  lives  of 
all  foreigners.  The  disease  is  bred  through  cli 
matic  conditions,  but  its  coming  is  encouraged 
and  its  ravages  are  aggravated  by  the  filth  which 
gathers  in  most  Spanish  towns,  where  there  is 
usually  a  lack  of  proper  drainage.  The  other 
half  year  was  marked  by  the  northers,  or  terrific 
wind-storms  from  the  north,  which  are  very  de 
structive  to  shipping.  In  those  days,  there  being 
no  wharves  or  moles,  ships  lay  at  anchor  at  some 
distance  from  the  city  or  fastened  to  iron  rings 
in  the  walls. 

Preparations  were  now  made  for  the  landing  of 
twelve  thousand  troops.  To  do  this  in  the  surf, 
out  of  range  of  the  guns  of  the  city  and  the  great 
castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa,  was  no  easy  task. 
Usually  on  such  occasions,  as  for  example  at  the 
French  landing  in  Algeria,  many  men  were 
drowned.  By  the  skill  of  our  naval  officers  and 
sailors,  who  used  large  flat  boats  made  in  the 
United  States,  all  the  soldiers,  with  artillery  and 
supplies,  were  landed  safely. 

Intrenchments  were  dug  and  cannon  and  mor- 


THE   NAVY  AND   ARMY  AT    VERA    CRUZ.  IQI 

tar  platforms  built.  The  line  of  circumvallation, 
when  completed,  was  named  Camp  Washington.  It 
was  impossible  for  the  army  to  march  into  the 
interior,  and  thus  gain  the  healthy  highlands,  until 
the  walled  city  of  Vera  Cruz  had  been  reduced, 
and  yet  General  Scott  had  only  a  pitiful  array  of 
ordnance  to  batter  down  the  heavy  walls  built  of 
coquina,  or  shell  rock.  Ten  mortars  and  ten  24- 
pounder  guns  were  indeed  soon  mounted,  but  the 
forty  other  mortars  and  the  heavy  guns  were  some 
where  at  sea  on  transport  ships,  with  no  news  of 
them  or  their  whereabouts.  Every  day  the  dreaded 
yellow  fever  came  nearer.  Easily  propagated  by 
mosquitoes  and  flies,  an  outbreak  among  our  troops 
would  mean  a  ruinous  pestilence.  The  light  army 
cannon  could  not  batter  down  the  walls.  To  throw 
shells  into  the  city  would  only  kill  women  and 
children  without  making  the  enemy  surrender.  In 
such  a  strait,  what  could  General  Scott  do  ? 

When  Perry,  on  March  20,  1847,  arrived  back  from 
New  York,  the  Mexican  batteries  were  firing  in  a 
lively  way  on  our  men  and  camps,  but  no  response 
yet  came  from  the  American  side.  That  night 
it  blew  a  gale  from  the  north,  hiding  the  vessels  in 
spray  and  the  camps  in  sand. 

General  Winfield  Scott  was  one  of  the  ablest 
officers  that  the  United  States  army  has  ever 
known.  Born  in  1786,  he  entered  the  service  in 


I Q2          THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

1808.  He  was  not  only  a  veteran  of  the  War  of 
1812,  in  which  he  had  won  glory  and  a  gold  medal, 
but  had  served  in  the  campaigns  against  the  Indians. 
It  was  he  who  had  elaborated  the  system  of  tactics 
which  then  formed  the  basis  of  instruction  in  the 
United  States  army.  He  was  a  thoroughly  sci 
entific  soldier  and  a  very  humane  man.  He  con 
sidered  it  disgraceful  to  spill  one  drop  of  blood, 
or  to  have  one  life  lost  more  than  was  necessary. 
Instead  of  "  a  big  butcher's  bill,"  and  great  lists  of 
killed  and  wounded,  his  idea  of  war  was  to  secure 
results  without  waste  of  human  life  by  disease,  bat 
tle,  or  soldier's  vices.  Furthermore,  he  was  desir 
ous  of  inflicting  no  more  loss  upon  the  enemy  than 
was  absolutely  necessary,  though  in  time  of  need  he 
spared  neither  his  men  nor  the  foe.  He  planned 
the  campaign  in  such  a  way  that  much  money, 
but  little  fight,  would  be  required.  Yet  the  Wash 
ington  authorities  had  not  very  liberal  ideas  and  at 
first  set  Scott  aside.  Afterward  they  were  obliged 
to  recall  him  and  put  him  in  authority.  His  plan 
was  to  move  immediately  from  the  malarial  seacoast 
up  into  the  mountains,  to  capture  Mexico  City  and 
quickly  end  the  war. 

Santa  Anna,  however,  calculated  that  Vera  Cruz 
would  hold  out  a  long  while.  Then  he  expected 
that  two  of  his  allies,  Commodore  Norther  would 
wreck  the  fleet,  while  General  Vomito  would  ruin 


THE   NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT    VERA    CRUZ.  193 

the  army.  So,  also,  the  Spaniards  calculated  in 
1898. 

Now  at  Vera  Cruz,  having  opened  his  batteries 
and  found  his  guns  too  light,  Scott  was  bitterly 
disappointed.  With  all  his  greatness,  he  was  an 
exceedingly  vain  man.  Magnificent  in  stature  and 
imposing  in  person,  he,  like  so  many  other  poor 
mortals,  found  it  hard  to  give  credit  to  others.  So, 
although  it  is  said  that  he  once  declined  Commodore 
Conner's  offer  of  heavy  ordnance  from  the  ships,  yet 
he  was  now  obliged  to  ask  for  the  navy  Columbiads 
which  were  to  breach  the  walls  and  thus  enable  him 
to  turn  his  face  to  the  northwest  and  cry  "  Excelsior." 

At  last  the  signals  from  the  flag-ship  came.  On 
March  21,  shortly  after  that  hoisting  of  the  colors 
which  takes  place  daily  on  every  American  fort  and 
man-of-war,  our  naval  world  was  electrified  by  the 
signal,  "  Commodore  Perry  commands  the  squad 
ron."  The  two  commodores,  Conner,  veteran  of 
the  war  of  1812,  representative  of  the  past  and 
the  glories  of  the  sailing  ship,  and  Perry,  the  apos 
tle  of  steam  and  the  future  diplomatist,  to  open 
Japan  to  the  world,  at  once  visited  General  Scott  in 
his  tent.  There  the  commander-in-chief  asked  for 
the  loan  of  six  heavy  navy  guns  to  form  a  battery 
in  the  army.  Instantly  Perry  replied,  "  Certainly, 
General,  but  I  must  fight  them  .  .  .  wherever  the 
guns  go,  the  sailors  go  with  them." 


IQ4  TffE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Scott  declined.  His  vanity  was  wounded.  He 
wanted  his  own  soldiers  to  man  the  batteries ;  but 
"  guns  and  men  together "  was  Perry's  rule.  So 
Scott  renewed  the  bombardment  with  his  light  field- 
pieces,  only  to  find  that  he  was  wasting  time.  The 
shot  could  not  penetrate  or  breach  the  walls. 
Swallowing  his  pride,  he  requested  Perry  to  send 
the  guns  along  with  the  sailors. 

The  Commodore  in  person  got  into  his  boat,  and 
pulling  round  under  the  sterns  of  his  war-ships, 
announced  the  order.  Instead  of  scraping  and 
scrubbing  and  acting  as  laborers,  our  jackies  were 
once  more  to  uphold  the  glorious  prestige  of  the 
navy.  Already  the  marines  were  doing  duty  in  the 
trenches  as  part  of  the  third  artillery.  The  news 
thrilled  the  blue-jackets,  and  cheer  after  cheer  went 
up  from  our  ships. 

It  was  Captain  Robert  E.  Lee,  one  of  the  ablest 
American  officers  ever  known  on  this  continent, 
who  built  the  naval  battery,  which  in  the  circum- 
vallation  was  Number  Four.  Made  of  sand-bags, 
with  walls  over  six  feet  thick,  it  had  traverses  to 
resist  a  flanking  or  a  raking  fire  from  the  castle. 
The  guns  were  mounted  on  their  own  ship's  car 
riages  and  set  opposite  the  fort  of  Santa  Barbara. 
The  sailors  worked  the  guns  and  the  powder  boys 
brought  the  ammunition  from  trenches  in  the  rear, 
behind  which  the  supporting  infantry  lay.  Picked 


THE   NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT    VERA    CRUZ.  195 

crews  served  two  32-pounders  from  the  Potomac 
and  the  Raritan,  and  four  68-pounders  from  the 
Mississippi,  the  Albany,  and  the  St.  Marys. 
These  were  called  Paixhans  or  Columbiads,  and 
were  the  most  famous  guns  of  the  day.  They 
could  fire  bombshells,  which  the  old-style  can 
non  could  not.  Not  until  it  was  finished  and 
the  guns  mounted,  did  the  Mexicans  discover  the 
naval  battery,  which  had  been  built  behind  cover, 
masked  by  the  dense  chaparral  or  cane-brake,  so 
common  in  Mexico  and  Texas,  made  of  evergreen 
oak  and  thorny  shrubs. 

When  our  men  found  out,  from  the  lively  music 
of  the  Mexican  cannon  balls  playing  over  their 
heads,  that  they  had  been  discovered,  they  were 
as  lively  as  the  chaparral-cocks  which  live  at 
home  in  the  prickly  undergrowth.  Some  daring 
volunteers  at  once  sprang  out  of  the  embrasures 
and  chopped  away  the  brush.  This  unmasked 
the  work,  and  soon  the  cross  fire  of  seven  forts 
converged  on  this  one  naval  battery.  The  castle 
also  sent  big  10-  and  1 3-inch  shells  flying  over 
and  around  them,  until  Perry  diverted  its  fire, 
as  we  shall  see. 

The  Mexican  engineers  wished  particularly  to 
destroy  this  new  earthwork,  for  they  well  knew 
that  it  was  the  heavy  shot  from  this  battery  which 
would  certainly  breach  the  walls.  Indeed,  as  soon 


196  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

as  their  inspectors  picked  up  the  solid  32-pounder 
shot  and  one  of  the  unexploded  8-inch  shells, 
they  felt  that  the  city  must  quickly  fall.  Their 
hope  was  therefore  to  dismount  the  guns,  and 
knock  the  battery  to  pieces.  They  concentrated 
directly  their  heaviest  cannon  and  best  artillerists 
opposite  the  naval  battery,  and  put  in  command 
a  German  officer  named  Holzinger.  Yet,  notwith 
standing  all  they  could  do,  the  fort  received  very 
little  injury.  Captain  Lee  showed  faith  in  his 
own  work,  by  remaining  in  the  redoubt  during 
the  fire.  At  half-past  two,  ammunition  was  ex 
hausted,  and  the  hot  metal  was  allowed  to  cool. 
By  this  time  fifty  feet  of  the  city  walls  had  been 
cut  away,  and  a  breach  thirty-six  feet  wide,  big 
enough  for  a  storming  party  to  enter,  had  been 
made,  while  the  thicker  walls  of  the  forts  were 
"  drilled  like  a  colander." 

A  relief  party  from  the  ship,  led  by  Captain 
Mayo,  with  fresh  ammunition,  reached  the  battery 
by  sunset.  Only  the  best  sailors,  picked  from  all 
the  vessels,  were  allowed  the  honor  of  serving  at 
the  guns.  All  night  long  the  bombardment  was 
kept  up  from  the  mortars.  At  daylight  the  boat 
swain's  silver  whistle  called  our  sailors  to  breakfast, 
after  which  another  terrific  straight-line  bombard 
ment  began.  So  rapid  and  so  steady  was  the  fire, 
that  between  seven  and  eight  it  was  necessary 


THE  NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT  VERA    CRUZ.  197 

to  stop  and  let  the  guns  cool.  From  daybreak 
to  i  P.M.,  our  shipmen  sent  over  six  hundred 
8-inch  shells  and  solid  shot  into  or  within  the 
city  walls.  They  silenced  several  forts  and 
wrought  terrific  destruction,  for  the  difference  be 
tween  bombs  falling  downward  and  shot  fired  on 
a  level  is  like  that  between  a  broadside  and  a 
raking  fire  at  sea.  The  longer  range  is  so  much 
more  destructive,  because  it  has  a  vastly  greater 
area  of  damage.  Beside  several  officers  and  men 
killed  in  the  battery,  a  number  of  the  sailors  were 
wounded  by  the  cactus  spurs  and  thorns,  and  bits 
of  sand  bags.  Before  leaving  his  work,  so  hand 
somely  done,  Captain  Mayo  called  his  men  to  the 
ramparts  to  give  three  cheers  and  thus  to  draw 
the  fire  of  the  Mexican  forts.  But  none  came. 
All  were  silenced.  So  after  thirteen  hundred 
rounds  from  the  naval  battery  and  great  breaches 
in  the  walls,  which  thus  opened  the  city  to  assault, 
Captain  Mayo  mounted  his  horse  at  2  P.M.  and 
rode  to  the  headquarters  of  the  general  command 
ing,  to  announce  results.  In  his  joy,  Scott  almost 
pulled  Captain  Mayo  off  his  horse,  thanking  him 
and  the  navy,  in  the  name  of  the  army,  for  this 
day's  work. 

It  was  now  arranged  that  three  storming  col 
umns  should  be  formed,  —  one  of  marines  and  sail 
ors,  one  of  regulars,  and  one  of  volunteers.  The 


1 98  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

volunteers  were  to  enter  through  the  widest  breach 
made  by  the  navy  guns.  The  others  were  to  storm 
the  gates  and  climb  the  walls.  Having  no  other 
materials,  the  carpenters  of  the  Mississippi  sawed 
up  the  studding  sail  booms  to  make  ladders.  The 
white  flag  and  signals  of  surrender  precluded  any 
necessity  of  the  Americans  showing  their  valor. 

Meanwhile  the  navy  had  still  further  cooperated 
handsomely  with  the  army.  Seeing  that  the  cas 
tle  was  training  its  guns  to  destroy,  if  possible, 
the  naval  battery,  Perry  ordered  Tattnall,  with 
the  Spitfire  and  Vixen,  to  approach,  and  at  the 
distance  of  eighty  yards  to  open  fire  in  order  to 
divert  the  gunners  from  the  naval  battery.  The 
plan  succeeded  admirably.  Had  the  Mexicans 
been  good  artillerists,  they  could  have  blown  the 
little  steamers  out  of  the  water,  but  their  shots 
vexed  only  the  waves.  After  they  had  swung  their 
heavy  cannon  round,  but  as  soon  as  they  had  im 
proved  their  range,  Perry  called  off  the  saucy  brace 
of  "  mosquito  steamers,"  on  which  the  sailors  were 
being  very  much  wetted  by  ball  and  shell,  which 
splashed  up  the  brine  like  geyser  springs.  Tatt 
nall  was  rather  disappointed  to  find  hardly  any 
one  hurt.  In  the  thrill  of  delight,  while  still  on 
deck,  he  exclaimed,  "  Well,  this  shortens  life,  but 
it  broadens  it." 

Unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  was  the 


THE  NAVY  AND  ARMY  AT    VERA    CRUZ.  199 

only  proposition  made,  and  this  was  accepted.  A 
terrible  wind-storm,  though  there  was  bright  moon 
light,  followed.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  General 
Scott  the  castle  also  surrendered,  the  moral  effects 
of  the  naval  battery  being  sufficient.  Alvarado  was 
soon  after  captured,  furnishing  our  army  with  ani 
mals  for  transportation,  so  that  General  Scott  was 
enabled  to  move  up  into  the  interior. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

SCOTT'S    ADVANCE    TO    THE    CITY    OF    MEXICO. 

T  T  P  to  the  time  of  the  Mexican  war  the  sailors 
^  of  the  United  States  navy  had  a  great  preju 
dice  against  being  drilled  as  infantry.  Operations 
on  land  by  seamen,  except  in  a  very  irregular  way, 
had  been  very  rare.  With  the  coming  in  of  steam 
ers,  where  so  much  less  toil  is  required  in  the 
handling  of  sails  and  ropes,  and  where  most  of  the 
hoisting  and  other  heavy  work  of  the  ship,  formerly 
done  with  human  muscle,  is  now  accomplished  by 
machinery,  the  situation  was  changed.  The  time 
was  ripe  to  turn  sailors  into  soldiers  and  to  form 
a  naval  brigade,  and  the  opportunity  was  well  im 
proved.  Our  blue-jackets  are  now  so  well  drilled 
in  the  evolutions  of  infantry  that  in  the  parades 
and  processions  they  show  a  handsome  equality 
with  our  militiamen,  not  only  in  marching,  but  in 
evolutions  and  the  manual  of  arms. 

Commodore  M.  C.  Perry  was  the  first  one  to  form 
a  naval  brigade.  With  ten  pieces  of  artillery,  twenty- 
five  hundred  men  were  thoroughly  drilled,  first  to 

200 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE    CITY  OF  MEXICO.     2OI 

handle  musket  and  bayonet,  and  then  to  move  in 
company  and  battalion  formation.  While  Scott 
was  forcing  the  pass  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Perry's  ships 
crossed  the  bar  at  the  river's  mouth,  stormed  the 
fort,  and  Tuspan  was  "  taken  at  a  gallop." 

The  next  enterprise  was  to  capture  Tobasco. 
This  was  new  work  for  United  States  sailors;  for  in 
stead  of  ship-to-ship  duels,  boat  expeditions  or  squad 
ron  fights  in  line,  our  sailors  were  to  charge  against 
infantry  intrenched  behind  earthworks.  With  1084 
seamen  and  marines  in  forty  boats,  the  ships  towed 
the  expedition  seventy  miles  up  a  river  covered  on 
both  sides  with  dense  chaparral.  With  three  cheers 
and  a  charge  the  men  landed,  formed,  drew  their 
howitzers  up  the  hill,  and  marched  on  Tobasco. 
On  the  plain  before  the  city  they  met  the  Mexican 
army,  with  two-field  pieces  and  cavalry,  commanded 
by  General  Bruno.  Our  artillery  was  first  hand 
somely  served,  and  then  a  charge  put  the  Mexicans 
to  flight.  While  the  steamers  poured  their  fire 
into  Fort  Iturbide,  Lieutenant,  afterward  Admiral, 
Porter  landed  with  sixty-eight  men  and  captured 
the  fort  by  assault,  so  that  soon  our  men  marched 
into  the  town,  company  front,  the  band  playing 
"  Yankee  Doodle."  During  the  six  days'  occupancy, 
the  sailors  showed  that  they  could  act  like  good 
soldiers  on  land  as  well  as  keep  discipline  aboard 
ship. 


202  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Thus  beside  furnishing  the  battery  which  laid 
low  the  walls  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  released  the  army 
to  march  into  the  interior,  the  navy  captured  six 
cities  with  their  fortresses  and  ninety-three  cannon, 
all  of  which  work  was  done  on  land,  off  deck,  and 
beyond  the  usual  sphere  of  naval  operations.  No 
wonder  that  when  General  Scott  sent  the  flagstaffs 
conquered  from  the  city  and  castle  of  Vera  Cruz  to 
the  museum  of  West  Point,  Commodore  Perry  re 
quired  that  on  the  brass  plates  should  be  inscribed, 
not  "  Taken  by  the  American  army,"  but  "  Taken 
by  the  American  army  and  navy." 

Meanwhile,  one  of  the  most  splendidly  conducted 
scientific  campaigns  known  in  history  went  on  under 
the  presiding  genius  of  General  Scott.  Our  little 
army  of  twelve  thousand  men  climbed  up  the  Mexi 
can  mountains,  and  at  the  almost  inaccessible  pass 
of  Cerro  Gordo  found  the  Mexicans  too  strongly 
intrenched  to  be  attacked  in  front.  Scott  cut  a 
road  around  the  mountain,  and  on  the  i  yth  of  April 
reached  the  Jalapa  road,  where  he  could  strike  Santa 
Anna  in  the  rear.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the 
1 8th,  Scott  ordered  his  men  forward.  With  a  furi 
ous  rush,  our  blue-coats  charged  on  the  gayly  uni 
formed  Mexicans.  Colonel  Harney,  taking  some  of 
his  men,  captured  the  tower,  which  was  the  key  to 
the  whole  position ;  while  General  Pillow's  division 
moved  through  a  terrible  musketry  fire  upon  Gen- 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE   CITY  OF  MEXICO.     203 

eral  Vega's  force.  Though  driven  back,  they  re 
formed  and  charged  again  with  success,  gathering 
in  three  thousand  prisoners.  In  this  battle  our 
men  lost  four  hundred  and  thirty-one,  of  whom 
sixty-three  were  killed.  The  Mexican  army  was 
routed.  Five  thousand  stands  of  arms  and  forty- 
three  pieces  of  artillery  were  taken.  The  result 
was  the  occupation  of  Jalapa,  with  its  fine  climate 
and  splendid  scenery,  dominated  by  the  snow-capped 
peak  of  Orizaba. 

Many  were  the  jokes  cracked  by  our  brave  fel 
lows,  who  had  never  seen  the  fair  city  or  region  of 
Jalapa.  They  remembered  the  nauseous  purgative 
drug  exported  from  this  city,  when  "  calomel  and 
jalap  "  formed  one  of  the  favorite  prescriptions  of 
the  doctors.  Indeed,  this  was  the  period  in  which 
many  "  Dago "  words  and  expressions  grew  up. 
Our  volunteers  used  to  sing  in  camp,  "  Green  grow 
the  rushes,  O,"  and  hence  the  name,  in  South 
America,  of  the  North  Americans  as  "  Gringoes." 
This  was  also  one  of  the  first  wars  in  which  news 
papers  made  some  men  famous  and  destroyed  the 
reputation  of  others  ;  for  the  war  correspondent  had 
already  moved  into  American  history  and  begun  his 
career.  General  Taylor  was  called  "  Rough  and 
Ready,"  and  General  Scott  "  Fuss  and  Feathers." 
Some  of  the  sayings  on  the  battlefield  got  to  be 
very  popular,  such  as  "A  little  more  grape,  Captain 


204  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Bragg,"  "  Wait,  Charlie,  till  I  draw  their  fire,"  and 
"  Where  the  guns  go,  the  men  go  with  them." 

Our  banners  now  advanced  into  the  beautiful 
province  of  Puebla.  The  country  was  noted  for  its 
richness  in  silver  and  other  metals,  and  the  lovely 
Mexican  onyx  with  which  we  are  all  acquainted. 
On  this  highland  region  Scott's  army  spent  the 
summer.  Besides  being  reenforced,  it  was  brought 
into  a  superb  state  of  discipline.  When,  on  the  7th 
of  August,  the  cry  "  On  to  Mexico  "  was  changed 
into  a  quickstep  march,  and  our  men  set  forward 
with  cheers,  Scott  did  not  fear  to  meet  an  army 
twice  the  number  of  his  own.  On  the  2Oth,  fourteen 
miles  from  the  city,  the  first  one  of  three  battles  on 
the  same  day  was  fought  and  victory  won.  Although 
the  Mexican  troops  showed  stubbornness  and  bravery, 
they  could  not  withstand  the  charges  of  our  men. 
The  line  of  battle  moved  off  to  Churubusco,  six 
miles  south  of  the  city,  where  heavy  fighting  took 
place.  Three  thousand  prisoners  were  taken  and 
thirty-seven  cannon  were  captured,  our  army  losing 
by  death  and  casualty  1053  men.  The  third  fight 
on  this  eventful  day  completed  the  victory,  the 
Americans  keeping  up  the  chase  of  the  beaten  foe 
almost  to  the  very  gates  of  the  capital. 

Then,  instead  of  Scott's  being  able  to  move  at 
once  upon  the  city,  to  harvest  the  results  of  his 
victory,  an  armistice  of  fifteen  days  took  place. 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE    CITY   OF  MEXICO.     2O$ 

The  war  was  stopped,  as  it  were,  by  injunction, 
through  a  commissioner  invited  from  Washington. 
Scott  was  thus  left  with  his  little  army  in  the  heart 
of  the  enemy's  country,  where  his  supplies  and 
reinforcements  could  easily  be  cut  off,  while  the 
Mexicans  were  able  to  recover  and  reorganize. 
Negotiations  failed,  however,  and  on  the  yth  of 
September  Scott  prepared  to  advance.  On  the  8th 
Worth's  division  of  four  thousand  men  captured 
Casamata,  and  also  the  fortification  called  Molino 
del  Rey,  or  the  King's  Mill. 

One  tremendously  strong  fortress  now  remained. 
This  was  called  Chapultepec,  where  was  the  mili 
tary  school  of  the  Mexican  republic.  It  stands  on  a 
strongly  fortified  hill,  and  an  immense  amount  of 
money  and  skill  had  been  spent  to  make  the  place 
impregnable.  To  mask  his  real  purpose,  Scott 
ordered  two  batteries  of  artillery  to  keep  up  a  heavy 
fire,  during  September  12  and  13,  which  had  the 
effect  of  drawing  the  enemy  within  the  city  walls. 
Meanwhile  our  engineers  put  up  heavy  batteries  on 
the  night  of  the  iith,  which,  during  the  two  days 
following,  directed  their  fire  on  the  castle  and  out 
works.  Then  on  the  1 3th,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  under  Captains  McKenzie  and  Casey,  two 
assaulting  parties,  of  260  men  each,  moved  forward 
to  the  stronghold,  while  over  their  heads  there  fell 
upon  the  enemy  from  our  batteries  a  rain  of  shot 


2O6  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

and  shell.  Over  rocks,  and  chasms,  and  mines,  and 
in  the  face  of  heavy  fire  of  cannon  and  musketry, 
our  men  rushed  forward,  climbing  up,  without  giv 
ing  the  Mexicans  time  to  explode  the  mines  laid  in 
the  ground.  After  the  redoubt  midway  on  the 
heights  had  been  taken,  our  brave  fellows  reached 
the  ditch  and  main  wall  of  the  work,  putting  scaling 
ladders  up  against  the  masonry.  No  sooner  were 
the  pioneers  once  inside  than  it  looked  as  if  a  wave 
of  blue  were  falling  over  the  walls  and  mounting  up 
the  west  side. 

On  the  south  side  our  men  had  to  move  across  a 
causeway,  and  here  the  contest  was  desperate ;  but 
discipline  and  valor  overcame  every  obstacle.  Bat 
teries  and  works  were  carried.  Ever  higher  yet  our 
soldiers  moved  forward,  until  they  planted  the  stars 
and  stripes  at  the  highest  point.  During  these 
three  terrible  days  our  army  lost  863  men,  but  not 
stopping,  they  pressed  on  along  the  two  causeways, 
and  continued  the  fighting  at  the  city  gates.  Scott 
would  grant  no  terms,  and  the  divisions  of  Worth 
and  Quitman  entered  the  capital.  Although  street 
fighting  continued  during  two  days,  the  position  was 
held,  and  the  city  made  secure.  Scott  had  now  less 
than  six  thousand  troops. 

After  this  decisive  victory  some  occasional  skir 
mishes  took  place,  but  the  guerillas  were  more  an 
noying  than  dangerous.  The  whole  story  of  the 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE    CITY   OF  MEXICO.     2O/ 

American  army  in  Mexico  is  a  magnificent  tribute 
to  the  science,  skill,  and  character  of  our  generals; 
to  the  splendid  discipline  of  our  little  army ;  to  the 
moral  stamina  and  intelligence  of  the  American 
volunteer.  The  contrast  between  the  ability  of  the 
officers  and  the  discipline  of  the  rank  and  file  in  the 
War  of  1812  with  that  of  1846  is  as  great  as  one 
could  imagine. 

The  Mexican  soldiers  were  docile  and  brave,  and 
were  accustomed  to  stand  in  the  ranks  during  the 
firing,  calmly  meeting  death ;  but  when  the  Ameri 
can  troops  made  a  rush  and  charge,  they  were  un 
able  to  hold  their  ground.  The  United  States 
soldier  wras  not  only  stronger  in  body  and  a  better 
fighting  machine,  but  was  a  more  intelligent  person. 
He  had  had  a  public  school  education.  He  knew 
what  he  was  fighting  for.  He  could  not  only  be 
brave,  but  he  could  keep  up  his  courage  and  endure 
hardness,  amid  fatigue  and  danger  during  many 
hours.  Many,  perhaps  most,  of  the  city-bred  men 
in  the  army  were  also  members  of  the  volunteer  fire 
department  at  home.  This,  with  all  its  faults,  was 
an  admirable  school  of  alertness,  intelligence,  cour 
age,  discipline,  and  manliness.  After  standing  up 
to  heavy  fighting,  and  shooting  with  an  idea  to  seri 
ous  business,  our  volunteers,  when  once  they  could 
start  the  Mexicans  on  the  run,  rapturously  enjoyed 
the  excitement.  They  found  the  chase  in  war  to 


208  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

have  more  fun  and  exhilaration  than  if  they  were 
running  to  a  fire  or  racing  with  a  rival  engine. 

Nor  was  it  difficult  to  account  for  the  brilliancy 
of  our  victories,  when  it  is  also  considered  what 
splendid  officers  the  American  graduates  of  West 
Point  were.  These  outgeneralled  the  Mexican 
leaders  by  exact  science.  General  Worth  well 
deserved  the  monument  which  the  city  of  New 
York  erected  to  his  memory  on  Fifth  Avenue, 
opposite  Madison  Square. 

In  the  navy  two  great  reforms  begun  and  were 
soon  carried  out.  One  was  the  abolition  of  flog 
ging  and  the  other  of  the  grog  ration.  Altogether, 
about  100,000  troops  had  been  employed,  of  which 
26,090  were  regulars,  56,926  were  volunteers,  and 
over  15,000  in  the  navy  or  in  the  department  of 
commissariat  and  transportation.  About  120  offi 
cers  and  1400  men  fell  in  battle  or  died  of  wounds, 
and  100  officers  and  10,800  men  perished  by  dis 
ease  ;  or,  in  round  numbers,  about  20,000  lives  were 
lost,  one-fourth  by  the  casualties  of  war,  and  three- 
fourths  by  sickness.  The  total  expense  of  the  war 
was  about  $150,000,000;  but  this  sum  was  vastly 
increased  by  pensions. 

Buena  Vista  was  Taylor's  last  battle,  but  he  had 
won  a  victory  not  only  over  Santa  Anna,  but  over 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people,  who  are  easily 
captured  by  military  men.  The  name  of  the  site 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE    CITY  OF  MEXICO.     2Og 

of  victory,  from  which  General  Taylor  stepped  into 
the  presidential  chair,  was  once  unheard  of  in  our 
country.  It  is  now  applied  to  over  forty  towns  and 
villages  in  the  United  States. 

Old  "  Rough  and  Ready  "  was  the  son  of  the  colo 
nel  of  a  Virginia  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  He  had  spent  most  of  his  life  on  the  fron 
tier,  among  soldiers  and  Indians.  He  began  his 
military  life  in  1804  as  lieutenant  of  the  seventh 
infantry,  and  had  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  and 
Florida  wars.  By  his  battle  on  Christmas  Day, 
1837,  he  had  decisively  beaten  the  Seminoles,  and 
with  Worth's  diplomacy  had  virtually  ended  the 
Florida  war.  It  is  said  that  he  had  not  voted  for 
forty  years.  In  the  nominating  convention  his  name 
ran  ahead  of  those  of  Clay,  Scott,  and  Webster. 

In  the  election  the  popular  vote  for  Taylor  was 
1,360,752.  Cass  and  Butler,  the  Democratic  candi 
dates,  had  1,219,962  votes.  For  Van  Buren  and 
Adams,  the  "  free-soilers,"  only  291,342  ballots  were 
cast.  So  the  man  of  the  camp  was  called  to  the 
service  of  the  nation  in  the  presidential  chair.  He 
was  inaugurated  March  4,  1849. 

The  country  was  now  again  called  to  face  the 
problems  of  expansion,  and  great  questions  loomed 
up  concerning  the  organization  of  the  new  territory. 
The  forces  of  freedom  and  slavery  were  being  ar 
rayed  in  that  terrific  conflict  of  words  which  pre- 


210  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

ceded  the  bloody  struggle  on  the  battlefield.  Like 
the  majority  of  purely  military  officers  called  to  high 
civil  posts,  Taylor  was  destined  to  prove  a  failure  as 
President.  As  a  rule,  the  work  of  army  officers  in 
high  civil  administration  contrasts  pitifully  with  the 
achievements  in  the  field.  Usually  the  two  records 
are  like  those  of  pygmy  and  giant.  President  Tay 
lor  was  saved  from  further  troubles  by  his  death, 
which  occurred  July  9,  1850.  Millard  Fillmore, 
whose  name  was  destined  to  be  well  known  in 
Japan,  became  President. 

By  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  peace  had 
been  secured  and  New  Mexico  and  California  were 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  Thus  again  the  area 
of  our  country,  by  being  increased  one-third  in 
size,  was  vastly  enlarged.  Nearly  a  million  square 
miles  of  land,  having  over  three  thousand  miles  of 
seacoast,  with  three  great  harbors,  came  under  the 
American  flag. 

And  yet  this  great  territory  might  have  waited 
a  long  while  for  inhabitants,  had  it  not  been  for 
what  has  been  called  the  "  accidental  "  discovery  of 
some  shining  grains  of  gold.  These  were  found 
on  Captain  Slitter's  farm. 

Do  we  call  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  an 
accident  ?  Yet  what  is  an  accident  ?  In  Christen 
dom,  and  especially  in  the  United  States,  many 
wonderful  inventions  have  been  the  result  of  happy 


SCOTT'S  ADVANCE    TO    THE   CITY  OF  MEXICO.     211 

"  accidents."  Yet  such  accidents  do  not  occur  in 
the  middle  of  Africa,  or  among  the  Esquimaux,  or 
the  red  Indians,  and  not  often  in  countries  where 
people  are  not  educated  to  think,  or  where  dis 
covery  is  frowned  upon  and  research  is  considered 
dangerous  to  religion  or  the  government.  Span 
iards  and  Indians  were  in  California,  the  latter 
thousands,  and  the  former  hundreds  of  years,  but 
there  were  no  such  "  accidents "  as  the  finding  of 
gold.  When,  however,  trained  Cornish  miners  came 
to  California,  they  found  at  an  unexpected  moment 
what  their  habits  of  life  taught  them  to  look  for. 

When  the  news  of  this  discovery  went  over  the  land 
and  the  world,  the  name  "  California,"  from  having 
been  a  mere  name  in  a  romance,  or  a  geographical 
expression  for  an  obscure  region,  was  transformed 
into  an  alluring  image  whose  face  reflected  light 
and  magnetism  all  over  the  earth.  Immediately 
young  men  from  the  East,  the  returned  volunteer, 
the  hardy  and  venturous  European  from  old  lands 
across  the  sea,  were  attracted  to  the  Pacific  slope. 
With  the  "  prairie  schooner,"  slowly  and  painfully 
making  their  way  across  the  great  American  desert, 
they  thronged  in  caravans.  Or  they  came  in  sail 
ing  vessels  around  Cape  Horn ;  or  took  steamer, 
crossed  the  Isthmus,  and  again  embarked  and 
steamed  up  the  coast.  In  four  years  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men  of  every  sort  of  character, 


212  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

almost  wholly  without  women  and  the  refinements 
of  life,  were  on  the  new  El  Dorado.  Then  began 
the  digging  and  the  washing,  and  the  output  of 
that  volume  of  wealth  which  has  surprised  the 
world.  Yet  California's  wealth  from  precious  metals 
has  been  vastly  less  than  that  gained  from  tilling  the 
soil.  "  The  Argonauts  of  '49"  found  the  true  golden 
fleece  in  agriculture  and  not  in  mining. 

Another  cession  of  territory  was  made  in  1853, 
when  Mexico  sold  to  our  government  for  the  sum 
of  $10,000,000  that  part  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
that  lies  south  of  the  Gila  River.  This  "  Gadsden 
purchase,"  named  from  the  negotiator,  added  to  our 
national  domain  a  strip  of  territory  nearly  as  large 
as  the  state  of  New  York,  or  45,535  square  miles. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE    AMERICAN    SAILOR    IN    THE    FAR    EAST. 

OUR  early  war-ships  on  the  East  India  station, 
which  included  at  first  the  waters  of  China 
and  Japan,  were  the  old  sailing  frigates,  sloops  of 
war,  or  brigs.  The  first  United  States  war  steamer 
to  get  to  the  far  East  was  the  San  Jacinto.  She 
was  named  after  the  closing  battle  in  the  war  of 
Texan  independence,  fought  April  21, 1836,  between 
General  Houston  and  Santa  Anna.  In  1855  this 
vessel  took  out  Townsend  Harris,  who  made  a 
treaty  with  Siam  and  one  with  Japan.  This  latter 
opened  the  empire  to  American  residence  and  com 
merce. 

While  the  San  Jacinto  was  on  the  China  station, 
the  British  and  Chinese  were  having  a  quarrel  which 
ended  in  war.  The  Chinese  had  built  forts  near 
Canton,  to  form  a  barrier  that  should  hinder  for 
eign  vessels  from  coming  up  the  river.  The  man 
darins  paid  little  or  no  attention,  as  they  ought  to 
have  done,  to  the  difference  in  the  national  ensigns. 
Although  they  themselves  usually  sent  armies  to 
the  field  with  thousands  of  banners,  streamers,  and 

213 


214  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

even  fans,  umbrellas,  and  gongs, —  things  which  are 
nonsense  when  real  fighting  is  to  be  done, —  so  that 
the  number  as  compared  with  the  righting  men  was 
absurdly  great,  they  had  no  real  flag.  They  had 
not  yet  reached  that  clear  sense  of  nationality  in 
the  world  which  would  teach  them  to  have  a  dis 
tinctive  Chinese  ensign  of  their  own.  Indeed,  there 
was  no  really  national  flag  of  Japan  or  Korea,  until 
contact  with  western  nations  compelled  these  peo 
ple  to  make  one.  In  the  pride  and  conceit  of  her 
mits,  each  thought  his  country  the  centre  of  the 
universe  and  other  people  barbarians.  Each  nation 
has  now  a  national  standard. 

So  it  happened  that  when  American  ships,  which, 
being  perfectly  neutral,  had  a  right  to  pass  the  bar 
rier  forts,  were  fired  upon,  it  was  time  to  teach  the 
Chinese  mandarins  the  rights  of  neutrals  and  the 
laws  of  war.  Commodore  Armstrong  could  not  get 
his  flag-ship,  the  San  Jacinto,  into  the  shallow  river, 
so  he  ordered  Captain  Foote,  who  afterward  was 
Admiral  and  commanded  the  gunboats  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  go  up  the  river,  bombard,  capture,  and 
destroy  the  Chinese  fort.  The  Portsmouth  was  a 
sailing  ship,  and  had  to  be  towed  by  the  little 
American  steamer  Willamette.  The  Levant,  an 
old  wooden  war-ship,  was  pulled  up  by  the  steam- 
launch  Kiim  Fa,  but  she  struck  on  a  rock  and  could 
not  fight  that  day.  The  Chinese  opened  at  once 


THE  AMERICAN  SAILOR   IN   THE   FAR   EAST.        21 5 

with  grape  and  round  shot,  but  after  the  Portsmouth 
got  into  position,  her  8-inch  guns  began  to  knock  the 
granite  blocks  of  the  largest  and  lowest  fort  out  of 
their  places,  while  her  shells  burst  inside  the  walls 
with  terrific  effect.  By  evening  the  fort  was  almost 
silent. 

After  several  days  of  unavailing  diplomacy,  a  land 
attack  was  ordered.  Four  hundred  of  our  marines 
and  sailors  in  boats  towed  by  the  Kum  Fa  were 
landed  at  the  edge  of  a  rice-field.  Then,  with  lad 
ders,  axes,  carbines,  and  cutlasses,  they  charged 
upon  the  gates  of  the  fort.  Besides  their  jingal  balls 
the  Chinese  fired  rockets  made  of  bamboo  poles 
armed  with  an  iron  spear-head  and  feathered  at  the 
ends.  The  clumsy  missiles  made  a  terrible  wound 
when  they  hit  any  one;  but  both  their  cannon  and 
jingal  balls  flew  over  our  men's  heads  and  their  bam 
boo  rocket  arrows  went  hissing  and  bouncing  over 
the  fields  like  Fourth-of-July  chasers.  While  our 
men  were  charging,  the  Levant  and  Portsmouth  kept 
up  their  cannonade,  but  both  ships  ceased  firing  as 
soon  as  the  Americans  entered  within  the  fort. 
Then  the  garrison  broke  and  fled.  Of  the  176 
guns  captured  within  the  walls,  one  was  an  8-inch 
bronze  piece  weighing  fifteen  tons. 

This  was  one  of  the  bravest  exploits  of  our  men 
abroad,  and  the  seven  men  killed  in  the  battle  are 
commemorated  in  the  monument  at  the  Brooklyn 


2l6  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

Navy  Yard.  It  was  easy  to  recall  their  story,  when 
in  July,  1898,  just  before  going  to  Europe,  I  visited 
the  Portsmouth  lying  as  the  receiving-ship  in  the 
Hudson  River  at  Hoboken.  The  Portsmouth  in 
her  day  was  a  fine  sailer  and  in  every  way  a  useful 
ship. 

Our  old  friend  Commodore  Josiah  Tattnall,  whom 
we  last  saw  in  front  of  the  castle  at  Vera  Cruz,  came 
out  to  Chinese  waters  in  1860.  In  the  chartered 
steamer  Toeywan  (another  name  for  Formosa)  he 
was  to  carry  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Ward,  into 
the  Peiho  River,  which  is  up  in  the  north  of  China 
and  leads  past  Tientsin  to  the  capital.  The  Brit 
ish  and  French  were  at  war  with  the  Chinese,  who 
built  forts  in  a  line,  and  below  and  above  had 
stretched  heavy  booms  of  wood  held  together  with 
iron  chains  and  staples.  In  the  attack,  the  allied 
fleet  of  thirteen  gunboats,  under  Admiral  Hope, 
blew  up  one  boom  and  bombarded  the  fort,  but 
they  were  unable  to  force  or  blow  up  the  upper  bar 
rier  of  timber  and  iron.  In  fact,  being  caught  in 
the  narrow  river  under  the  short-range  fire  of  the 
heavy  guns  of  the  Chinese  forts,  several  of  their 
ships  were  sunk.  On  others,  the  gun  crews  were  all 
killed  and  wounded,  About  four  hundred  and  thirty 
men  had  been  struck  down,  and  the  situation  was 
dreadful.  Even  on  the  flag-ship  Plover,  only  the 
bow  gun  was  being  served. 


THE  AMERICAN  SAILOR  IN   THE  FAR   EAST.        2I/ 

Commodore  Tattnall  standing  on  deck  outside 
the  bar,  glass  in  hand,  was  a  witness  of  this  awful 
spectacle.  He  stood  it  as  long  as  he  could.  Then 
crying  out,  "  Blood  is  thicker  than  water,"  he  ordered 
the  ship's  cutter.  He  passed,  like  Perry  on  Lake 
Erie,  through  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  as  his  men 
pulled  oar  toward  the  British  commander's  ship. 
A  Chinese  cannon  ball  tore  into  the  stern  of  the 
cutter,  killed  the  coxswain,  and  narrowly  missed 
sinking  the  boat  with  all  on  board.  Ranging  up 
alongside,  Tattnall  leaped  on  board  and  offered  the 
use  of  his  surgeons  for  the  wounded  of  the  fleet. 

While  their  commander  was  thus  occupied,  his 
boat's  crew  of  American  sailors  jumped  on  board 
the  Plover,  relieved  the  British  sailors,  who  were 
utterly  exhausted,  and  served  the  gun.  Our  men 
fired  a  round  or  two  at  the  Chinese  fort,  and  then 
Tattnall,  though  he  hated  to  do  it,  ordered  his  men 
off.  There  was  a  growl  in  his  voice,  put  on  for 
official  purposes,  but  there  was  no  disapproval  in 
his  twinkling  eyes.  Afterward,  in  the  land  expedi 
tion,  Tattnall  helped  to  tow  boatloads  of  British 
marines  in  action  to  storm  the  forts. 

It  is  an  old  Scotch  proverb  that  says,  "  Blood  is 
warmer  than  water."  Tattnall  gave  it  his  own  or 
the  English  form,  and  made  it  "  thicker."  His 
action,  although  technically  a  violation  of  interna 
tional  law,  must  be  excused  when  it  is  remembered 


2l8  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

that  the  Chinese  at  that  time  did  not  care  anything 
about  the  laws  of  nations,  and  that  the  American 
Commodore  offered  the  services  of  his  surgeons  to 
the  Chinese  also,  which  they  declined.  The  Chinese 
have  never  been  very  much  interested  in  saving  the 
lives  of  their  men  wounded  in  battle.  Even  in  1894 
they  went  to  war  with  Japan  without  a  hospital  corps. 
Until  Christian  sentiments  prevail  in  China,  they 
are  not  likely  to  furnish  surgeons,  hospitals,  and 
nurses  to  their  soldiers. 

In  Japan  large  squadrons  flying  the  stars  and 
stripes  have  gathered  more  than  once,  but  for 
peaceful  purposes,  and  to  perform  those  acts  which 
have  bound  Columbia  and  the  Mikado's  empire  in 
permanent  peace  and  mutual  regard.  Commodore 
Matthew  C.  Perry,  in  July,  1853,  w^n  the  United 
States  steamships  Mississippi  and  Susquehanna 
and  the  United  States  ships  Plymouth  and  Sara 
toga,  entered  the  bay  of  Yedo,  and  delivered  the 
President's  letter  of  friendship.  In  March,  1854, 
he  came  again,  and  at  Yokohama,  Perry,  the  sailor- 
diplomatist,  and  the  professor-statesman  Hayashi, 
made  the  treaty  which  begun  the  modern  inter 
course  of  Japan  with  the  world.  Townsend  Harris, 
our  first  Consul-general,  after  many  months  of 
patient  instruction  of  the  hermit-statesman  in  Yedo, 
and  later  assisted  by  Commodore  Tattnall,  obtained 
a  more  liberal  treaty,  in  1858,  which  secured  trade 


THE  AMERICAN  SAILOR   IN   THE   FAR   EAST.        2ig 

and  residence  of  Americans  at  five  ports  and  in  two 
cities.  Thus  did  our  peaceful  diplomacy  win  the 
friendship  and  respect  of  a  proud-spirited  people, 
and  the  most  progressive  nation  in  Asia  —  "the 
rudder  of  the  whole  continent." 

When  the  daimio  of  Choshiu  erected  batteries  on 
the  bluffs  commanding  the  narrow  strait  of  Shimo- 
noseki,  tried  to  close  the  Inland  Sea,  and  fired  on 
the  American  ship  Pembroke,  Captain  David  Mac- 
Dougal,  in  the  United  States  corvette  Wyoming, 
then  in  search  of  the  Alabama,  steamed  into  the 
straits,  July  16,  1862,  and  there  performed  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  and  daring  feats  in  the  annals  of 
the  United  States  navy.  He  engaged  five  batteries 
and  silenced  one.  He  ran  his  ship  between  two 
armed  vessels,  fought  both  and  sunk  one.  Then 
manoeuvring  into  position,  he  sent  an  i  i-inch 
shell  into  the  boiler  of  the  large  war  steamer,  blow 
ing  her  up  and  sinking  her,  again  fighting  the 
batteries  on  his  return.  In  this  battle  of  seventy 
minutes,  the  Wyoming  fired  fifty-five  rounds,  or, 
from  the  time  of  actual  firing,  one  a  minute.  Struck 
in  twenty  places,  the  ship,  though  losing  four  killed 
and  six  wounded,  came  out  in  good  trim. 

In  1864,  the  allied  British,  French,  and  Dutch 
and  American  squadrons  bombarded  the  forts,  now 
increased  to  ten,  and  completely  destroyed  them. 
Our  flag  was  represented  by  Lieutenant  Pearson, 


220  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

with  a  Parrott  rifle  gun  and  thirty  marines  and 
sailors,  on  the  chartered  steamer  Ta  Kiang,  in  a 
manner  to  win  the  admiration  of  the  admiral  com 
manding.  Then  the  alert  and  progressive  Japanese 
took  the  matter  to  heart  and  concluded  first  to  imi 
tate,  and  then  excel,  the  foreigners,  and  join  in  the 
race  of  modern  civilization. 

As  nobly  patriotic  and  efficient  at  the  ends  of  the 
earth  as  in  American  waters,  our  navy  has  always 
sustained  the  honor  of  the  nation.  Shimonoseki 
was  the  precursor  of  Manila.  Cool,  scientific,  brave, 
and  bold,  MacDougal,  in  1862,  set  a  mark  for  Dewey 
at  Manila  in  1898.' 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

CONFEDERATES  AND  FEDERALS. 

THE  battle  over  slavery  was  fought  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  before  its  theatre  was  transferred 
to  the  open  field.  One  party  at  the  North  believed 
slavery  to  be  a  curse.  Another  party  at  the 
South  looked  upon  it  as  a  blessing.  The  pulpit, 
the  press,  and  political  economy  were  divided,  as 
the  country  was. 

Even  the  religious  denominations  of  the  coun 
try  were  rent  asunder,  but  the  Reformed,  the 
Congregational,  the  Episcopal,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  churches  maintained  their  unity.  The 
longer  the  debate,  the  hotter  grew  the  spirit  of 
the  disputants.  Texas  was  the  last  one  admitted 
as  a  slave  state,  but  California  came  in  free. 

All  compromises  were  in  vain.  One  party  cried 
"  no  more  slave  states."  Another  said  that 
negroes  were  property,  and  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States  could  take  what  was  his  own,  in 
cluding  his  black  slaves,  with  him.  A  third  part 
denied  the  right  of  Congress  to  decide  the  ques 
tion  of  free  or  slave  states,  declaring  that  the 
people  of  the  territories  were  the  sovereigns. 


221 


222  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Many  blacks  escaped  from  bondage  into  the  free 
states.  Congress  passed  a  law  allowing  slave  owners 
to  secure  the  fugitives.  When  these  attempted 
to  do  so,  there  were  riots  and  rescues.  I  well  re 
member  some  of  these  in  Philadelphia.  In  many 
places,  especially  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and 
Ohio,  kind-hearted  persons  helped  the  black  people 
to  get  privately  to  Canada.  By  day  they  fed  and 
sheltered  the  fugitives  in  barns  and  cellars.  When 
it  was  dark,  they  convoyed  them  from  one  town 
to  another,  or  showed  them  the  way.  Thus  these 
pilgrims  of  the  night  followed  the  north  star  to 
freedom  under  the  British  flag.  Quiet,  secret,  effec 
tive,  was  "  the  underground  railroad"  to  Canada. 

Mr.  Seward  declared  that  we  had  on  hand  an 
"  irrepressible  conflict,"  and  Mr.  Lincoln  said 
that  no  nation  could  exist  half  slave  and  half  free. 
There  was  much  talk,  which  greatly  scared  some 
parsons  and  many  persons,  about  "a  higher  law"  as 
being  above  acts  of  Congress.  Then  came  the  pub 
lication  of  the  novel  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  which 
showed  both  the  bright  and  the  dark  side  of  slav 
ery.  This  book  sold  by  hundreds  of  thousands  and 
roused  the  popular  sentiment,  educating  millions 
to  a  hatred  against  the  bondage  of  the  blacks. 

When  Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun  died,  as  they 
did  before  1852,  new  men  like  Thaddeus  Stevens 
and  Charles  Sumner,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Jeffer- 


CONFEDERATES  AND   FEDERALS.  22$ 

son  Davis  and  John  C.  Breckenridge  on  the  other, 
took  their  places  in  Congress.  The  Missouri  Com 
promise  of  1820,  which  shut  out  slavery  from  the 
territory  north  and  west  of  Missouri,  was  repealed. 
This  precipitated  a  great  struggle  for  the  posses 
sion  of  Kansas.  Should  it  be  settled  by  free  men 
or  slaveholders  ?  Soon  there  were  rival  govern 
ments  on  the  soil,  and  for  five  years  the  territory 
was  torn  by  civil  war.  Border  ruffians  and  aboli 
tionists  fought  each  other,  and  not  a  little  blood 
was  shed;  but  Kansas  finally  entered  the  Union 
without  slavery. 

Two  days  after  President  James  Buchanan  had 
been  inaugurated,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  under  Chief  Justice  Taney  decided 
that  negro  slaves  were  not  "  persons,"  notwith 
standing  that  the  Constitution  speaks  of  them  as 
such,  but  were  simply  pieces  of  property  having 
no  rights  which  white  men  were  bound  to  respect. 
Therefore  slaves  could  be  taken  into  free  terri 
tory,  the  same  as  horses  or  cattle. 

In  the  midst  of  the  increasing  hostilities  between 
the  sections  north  and  south,  came  the  financial 
panic  of  1857.  This  was  followed,  however,  by  the 
discovery  of  silver  in  Nevada,  of  petroleum  in 
Pennsylvania,  and,  later,  of  lead  and  silver  in  Colo 
rado  and  Utah,  and  of  natural  gas  in  western  Penn 
sylvania.  Then  ensued  the  episodes  of  the  John 


224  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

Brown  raid  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  election  to 
the  presidency  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  By  the  ist 
of  February,  1861,  seven  states  had  seceded  from 
the  Union.  At  Montgomery,  Alabama,  they  took 
the  name  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 
Fort  Sumter  was  attacked  and  surrendered.  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  issued  his  call  for  75,000  volunteers  to 
suppress  the  rebellion.  By  the  middle  of  June, 
four  more  states  having  seceded,  there  were  eleven 
in  the  Confederacy. 

The  population  of  the  Union  at  this  time  was 
about  32,000,000,  of  whom  23,000,000  were  in  the 
states  loyal  to  the  Constitution,  while  in  the  Con 
federacy  were  6,500,000  white  men  and  about 
3,500,000  slaves.  The  Confederates  had  the  advan 
tage  of  plenty  of  arms  and  ammunition  which  they 
had  seized,  and  a  majority  not  only  of  the  best- 
known  officers  in  the  regular  army,  but  perhaps 
also  of  the  navy.  They  had  also  the  benefit  of 
resources  in  labor,  by  which  an  army  in  the  field 
could  be  fed  by  unpaid  toilers  at  home.  There  was 
an  immense  advantage  in  fighting  for  defence  and 
on  their  own  soil.  On  the  other  hand  they  had  few 
factories  and  very  little  skilled  labor.  For  the  mak 
ing  of  an  ironclad  war  vessel,  the  ore  must  first  be 
blasted,  dug,  smelted,  refined,  and  rolled.  The  raw 
materials  for  the  making  of  powder  and  campaign 
supplies  must  be  first  provided.  Reliance  must  be 


CONFEDERATES  AND   FEDERALS.  22$ 

placed  upon  Europe  for  nearly  all  manufactured 
articles.  Payment  could  be  made  in  cotton  through 
the  blockade  runners. 

The  resources  of  the  North  in  money,  materials, 
factories,  mills,  founderies,  and  shipyards  were  very 
great.  There  were  twice  as  many  men,  and  labor 
was  in  honor.  With  command  of  the  sea  and  the 
power  to  obtain  a  large  navy,  the  government  could 
blockade  the  southern  ports  and  cut  off  supplies 
from  Europe.  Yet,  in  the  summer  of  1861,  the 
Union  force  was  but  little  larger  than  those  of 
the  Confederacy.  General  Scott  directed  one  army 
and  General  Beauregard  the  other.  The  Union 
line,  between  Fortress  Monroe  and  Harper's  Ferry, 
was  called  "  the  Army  of  the  Potomac."  The  "Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  "  was  the  name  given  to  the 
Confederate  force,  which  had  Richmond  as  its  cen 
tre.  There  were  also  opposing  forces  in  Missouri 
and  West  Virginia  and  in  the  southwest.  The 
Confederates  held  the  Mississippi  River  from  New 
Orleans  to  Columbus  and  hoped  to  control  Ken 
tucky,  beside  holding  the  Tennessee  and  Cumber 
land  rivers. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run  served  only  to  arouse 
the  North  to  greater  efforts.  Congress  voted  to 
raise  a  half  million  men  and  half  a  billion  dollars 
to  carry  on  the  war.  General  George  B.  McClellan 
was  put  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


226  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

By  his  continuous  labors  and  after  six  months  of 
steady  drill,  he  had  made  it  the  splendid  fighting 
machine  which  it  was  and  through  all  its  vicissi 
tudes  remained.  The  plan  of  campaign,  elaborated 
in  Washington,  was  first  to  blockade  the  seaports 
of  the  Confederacy,  to  take  Richmond,  to  open  the 
rivers  of  the  southwest,  and  to  march  a  Union  army 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  contrary  plan,  elaborated  in  Richmond,  was 
defence  on  land  and  aggression  at  sea.  A  fleet 
of  privateers  and  commerce-destroyers,  among 
which  were  the  Alabama,  Florida,  Shenandoah, 
Rappahannock,  Georgia,  and  Tallahassee,  was  let 
loose  on  the  oceans.  Their  success  was  so  great 
that  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  was  wiped 
off  the  seas.  Americans  dwelling  in  foreign  lands 
felt  like  men  without  a  country. 

In  November,  1861,  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell 
were  sent  as  envoys  of  the  Confederacy  to  obtain 
recognition  abroad,  but  Captain  Wilkes,  the  famous 
explorer,  stopped  the  British  mail  steamer  Trent 
and  took  them  as  prisoners.  Yet  the  very  thing 
that  the  American  commander  had  done  was 
what  we  had  protested  against  for  fourscore  years. 
When,  therefore,  the  British  government  demanded 
that  the  prisoners  be  given  up,  Mr.  Seward,  our 
able  Secretary  of  State,  at  once  released  them. 
Thus  our  government  showed  that  consistency 


CONFEDERATES  AND  FEDERALS.  22 J 

which  is  so  precious  a  jewel.  In  Europe  the  two 
envoys  accomplished  little  or  nothing.  Even  Mr. 
Edward  A.  Freeman,  who  started  to  write  a  book, 
entitled  "  The  History  of  Federal  Government 
from  the  Amphictyonic  Council  to  the  Disruption 
of  the  United  States  of  America,"  published  but  one 
volume.  Then  the  victories  of  the  Union  armies 
compelled  indefinite  postponement  of  the  book. 

The  efforts  of  the  Confederates  to  build,  float, 
and  equip  a  navy  were  extraordinary.  Seizing  the 
Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  they  turned  the  old  Merrimac 
into  an  ironclad.  It  had  sloping  sides,  and  its  plat 
ing  was  chiefly  of  railroad  material.  Although  a 
very  shaky  craft,  the  new  monster,  riding  on  the 
old  hulk,  was  able  to  move  out  against  the  grand 
old  wooden  frigates  Cumberland  and  Congress,  then 
lying  opposite  Fortress  Monroe.  These  were 
rammed  and  sunk  in  a  few  minutes,  their  broad 
sides  rattling  on  and  rebounding  from  the  dented 
but  unpierced  iron  sides  of  the  Merrimac. 

On  Sunday,  March  9,  a  new  oddity,  the  Monitor, 
appeared.  She  looked  to  the  Confederates  like  a 
"  tomato  can  upon  a  shingle."  A  duel  took  place, 
and  the  Merrimac  went  back  to  her  quarters.  The 
Monitor  could  not  be  hurt.  This  little  event  dic 
tated  the  reconstruction  of  all  the  navies  of  the 
world.  From  this  time  forth  wood,  as  a  material 
for  war  vessels,  was  obsolete.  In  our  days  of  steel 


228  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

battle-ships,  even  the  libraries  of  books,  the  sailors' 
bags,  clothes,  hammocks,  and  everything  combus 
tible  are  thrown  overboard,  lest  they  take  fire  in 
battle. 

The  war  of  power  between  guns  and  penetrating 
missiles,  armor  and  power  of  resistance,  goes  on  in 
our  day  just  as  it  went  on  in  the  Middle  Ages.  At 
first  leather  and  hide-covered  shields  were  sufficient. 
Then  followed  chain  mail  and  scale  armor ;  but 
when  the  arrows  were  made  longer  and  heavier 
and  the  bows  stronger,  chain  and  scale  armor  gave 
way  to  plates  riveted  together,  and  this  in  turn  to 
ugly  and  clumsy  boxes  of  iron,  that  made  men  look 
as  if  they  were  dressed  up  in  ash  cans  and  coal  scut 
tles.  Men  thickened  their  coats  of  defence,  clothing 
themselves  more  and  more  in  hardware,  until  the 
knights  were  so  heavy  that  they  had  to  be  helped 
to  get  on  their  horses.  When  they  fell  off,  they 
lay  helpless  as  turtles  turned  upside  down. 

By  and  by,  in  the  final  evolution  of  force  from 
the  stone-headed  arrow,  the  bullet  came  into  play, 
which  no  amount  of  steel  which  a  man  is  able  to 
wear  can  resist ;  armor  was  dropped  and  became 
only  a  curiosity.  So  in  time  will  it  be  with  ship 
armor.  Admiral  Dupont,  when  he  saw  how  life 
was  made  so  uncomfortable  to  the  fighters  in  the 
monitors,  longed  for  iron  men  to  fight  in  these 
metal  ships,  which  were  more  like  junk-shops  or 


CONFEDERATES  AND  FEDERALS.  2  29 

dry  docks  than  the  beautiful,  full-sailed,  and  majestic 
sailers  of  old  times.  During  the  war  most  of  the 
best  work  of  blockade  and  battle  had  to  be  done 
necessarily  by  the  wooden  frigates  and  gunboats, 
but  new  monitors  were  quickly  built  and  launched, 
and  they  served  nobly  to  reduce  fortresses.  In  one 
of  them,  the  Weehawken,  Captain  John  Rodgers, 
with  consummate  coolness  and  skill,  fought  and 
sunk,  within  fifteen  minutes,  the  ironclad  Atlanta 
in  Savannah  harbor.  This  event  took  place  just 
fifty  years  after  the  conflict  between  the  Chesapeake 
and  Shannon  in  Boston  harbor,  and  finely  illustrated 
the  progress  made  in  naval  science  during  a  half 
century. 

The  line  of  defence  of  the  Confederacy  was  first 
broken  in  the  west  by  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson.  This  was  brought  about  by  Com 
modore  Foote  with  his  gunboats  and  by  General 
Grant  with  his  army,  compelling  the  surrender  of 
fifteen  thousand  prisoners,  which  up  to  that  time 
was  the  greatest  number  ever  taken  in  any  battle 
on  this  continent.  After  the  great  battle  at  Shiloh, 
or  Pittsburg  Landing,  in  which  twenty-five  thou 
sand  men  were  killed  or  wounded,  Commodore 
Foote  captured  Island  Number  Ten,  which  opened 
the  Mississippi  River  all  the  way  to  Vicksburg. 
One  of  the  popular  songs  of  the  war  was,  "  Ho,  for 
the  Gunboats,  Ho  !  " 


230  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

The  next  year  Farragut,  with  fifty  wooden  ves 
sels,  moved  up  the  Mississippi.  New  Orleans 
was  defended  by  Forts  Jackson  and  Philip,  by 
heavy  chain  cables  stretched  across  the  stream, 
and  by  fifteen  armed  vessels,  including  two  iron 
clads.  Farragut  was  assisted  by  Butler's  land 
forces  and  Commodore  Porter's  bomb  boats 
which  rained  3OO-pounder  shells  into  the  forts. 
The  advancing  Union  fleet  silenced  the  guns, 
broke  the  cables,  and  sunk  the  ships.  Once 
more  the  stars  and  stripes  floated  on  the  public 
buildings  of  New  Orleans.  Port  Hudson  and 
Vicksburg  remained  to  contest  and  prevent  the 
desired  meeting  of  the  sea-going  fleet  of  Farra 
gut  with  the  river  gunboats  of  Foote. 

In  the  east,  McClellan,  leaving  a  hundred  thou 
sand  men  in  Washington,  marched  with  another 
hundred  thousand  through  the  peninsula  between 
the  James  and  the  York  rivers  to  the  southeast 
of  Richmond,  where  weeks  were  spent  in  fighting 
malaria,  mud,  weather,  and  water.  There  were 
heavy  battles  at  Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks  and 
opposition  at  Williamsburg  and  Yorktown.  When 
General  Robert  Lee  took  command  of  the  Con 
federate  forces,  he  despatched  Stonewall  Jackson 
to  drive  out  the  Union  forces  from  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley  and  General  Stuart  to  make  a  raid 
in  the  rear  of  McClellan's  army,  and  both  were 


CONFEDERATES  AND   FEDERALS.  231 

very  successful.  The  armies  of  Fremont,  Banks, 
and  McDowell  were  united  under  the  name  of 
the  Army  of  Virginia,  and  General  John  Pope  was 
made  their  commander.  Toward  the  end  of  June, 
after  heavy  fighting,  during  what  has  been  called  the 
Seven  Days'  Battle,  culminating  at  Malvern  Hill, 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  retreated  to  the  James 
River  and  afterward  fell  back  nearer  Washington. 
After  the  loss  of  thirty  thousand  men,  matters  on 
both  sides  stood  as  they  had  been  before.  When 
President  Lincoln  called  "for  fresh  volunteers,  the 
shout  went  up  all  over  the  Union,  "  We  are  com 
ing,  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand 
more,"  and  they  came. 

A  second  terrific  battle  was  fought  at  Bull  Run, 
in  which  Pope,  confronted  by  Stonewall  Jackson, 
was  badly  defeated.  Most  of  the  Federal  troops 
retreated  to  their  fortifications  at  Washington. 
General  Lee  crossed  the  Potomac  above  Washing 
ton,  expecting  that  the  Marylanders  would  rise  up 
and  march  with  him.  At  Harper's  Ferry  Jackson 
captured  the  Union  garrison  with  plenty  of  arms 
and  stores.  McClellan,  advancing  to  Sharpsburg 
against  Lee,  fought  the  bloody  battle  at  Antietam, 
with  a  loss  of  twenty-six  thousand  men.  Lee  was 
compelled  to  retreat.  McClellan  was  superseded 
by  Burnside,  who,  setting  out  to  march  on  Rich 
mond,  crossed  the  Rappahannock  River  and  at- 


232  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST, 

tacked  the  Confederate  fortifications,  but  was 
driven  back  with  terrible  loss,  and  General  Joseph 
Hooker  was  given  the  command  of  the  army  in 
the  east.  In  this  month  of  December,  a  battle 
was  fought  at  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee,  between 
the  armies  of  Generals  Bragg  and  Rosecrans, 
lasting  three  days,  and  ending  in  the  advantage 
of  the  Union  army.  Thus  the  year  closed. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE    WAR    FOR    FREEDOM. 

ON  the  first  of  January,  1863,  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  changed  the  character  of  the 
war  from  one  for  the  Union  to  one  for  freedom. 
During  the  first  four  months  of  1863  little  could 
be  done  except  in  the  way  of  preparation,  but 
when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  moved,  the  Confed 
erates  met  them  at  Chancellorsville,  where  a  two 
days'  battle  was  fought.  The  Union  army  was 
beaten.  Yet  this  was  the  last  triumph  which  the 
Confederates  in  Virginia  won  in  the  open  field. 
Here  they  met  with  their  greatest  loss,  for  Stone 
wall  Jackson  was  accidentally  shot  by  his  own  men. 
After  this  no  more  victories  came  to  the  stars  and 
bars. 

General  Lee  was  a  statesman  as  well  as  a  soldier. 
To  save  the  Confederacy,  he  resolved  to  invade 
the  free  states  and  to  conquer  peace  in  a  northern 
city.  In  June  he  "  marched  over  the  mountain 
wall "  with  about  seventy  thousand  men,  but  at 
Gettysburg,  General  Meade,  the  Pennsylvanian, 
met  him.  Years  before,  a  British  officer  visiting 
this  valley  plain,  with  Seminary  Ridge  on  one  side 

233 


234  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

and  Cemetery  Ridge  nearly  opposite,  had  remarked 
on  the  fitness  of  the  site  for  a  great  battle. 

On  July  i,  1863,  the  terrific  struggle  began,  the 
Confederates  at  first  getting  the  advantage.  On 
the  third  day,  General  Pickett,  with  fifteen  thousand 
men,  the  flower  of  the  Confederate  army,  after  a 
terrific  cannonade  of  the  Union  forces,  charged 
across  a  mile  of  open  ground  and  up  the  slope 
of  Cemetery  Ridge.  Then  the  Federal  artillery 
opened  upon  them,  first  with  round  shot,  then  with 
shell,  and  finally  with  grape  and  canister.  Yet  on 
the  brave  Confederates  moved,  piercing  the  Union 
lines,  but  only  to  have  the  Federals  close  upon 
them,  "  gathering  in  flags  by  the  sheaves  and  pris 
oners  by  the  thousands,"  and  driving  back  the 
fragments.  Being  on  Pennsylvania  soil,  the  Key 
stone  State's  own  troops  appropriately  took  a 
prominent  part.  In  this  most  stubbornly  contested 
battle  of  the  war  nearly  fifty  thousand  men  were 
killed  or  wounded.  This  was  the  high-water  mark 
of  the  slaveholders'  rebellion.  The  rest  of  the  work 
of  the  Union  armies  and  navies,  heavy  as  it  proved 
to  be,  was  but  the  finishing  of  the  task. 

As  I  write  this  story,  I  remember  well  being  at 
Camp  Curtin,  in  Harrisburg,  as  a  member  of 
Company  H  of  the  44th  (Merchants')  Regiment, 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  having  heard  the  news 
of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  and  received  orders  to 


THE    WAR   FOR   FREEDOM.  235 

march  southward.  We  were  to  guard  the  fords 
of  the  Potomac  after  Lee's  retreat.  Governor 
Andrew  Curtin  came  into  the  camp  and  went 
through  it,  announcing  the  fall  of  Vicksburg. 
Before  leaving  Philadelphia,  I  had  been  solemnly 
assured  by  some,  especially  by  two  venerable  and 
famous  friends  of  southern  birth,  that  Vicksburg 
was  impregnable.  With  battery  rising  above  bat 
tery  on  the  bluffs  of  the  riverside,  and  bristling  with 
heavy  guns  and  an  ample  garrison  in  fortifications 
of  the  first  order  of  scientific  construction,  it  was 
impossible  for  an  army  to  capture  and  occupy  it. 

As  Governor  Curtin  went  through  the  camp  the 
men  of  the  various  counties  came  out  to  greet  him. 
There  were  the  stalwart  lumbermen  from  Pike, 
Wayne,  and  Susquehanna  counties,  the  coal  miners 
of  Schuylkill,  Carbon,  and  Lehigh  counties,  the 
farmers  from  Bucks,  Montgomery,  and  Chester 
counties,  the  sugar  makers  of  Clinton,  Union, 
and  Lycoming  counties,  the  sturdy  "  Pennsylvania 
Germans "  from  Lancaster,  Lebanon,  and  York 
counties,  the  iron  workers  of  Allegheny  and  West 
moreland  counties,  the  boat  and  lake  men  from 
Erie  and  Crawford  counties,  -  -  each  delegation 
cheering  and  welcoming  the  governor  of  the  com 
monwealth.  Thus  did  the  boy  of  nineteen  get  his 
first  clear  and  full  impression  of  an  American  state, 
with  its  counties  and  townships. 


236  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

General  Grant's  forces  had  beaten  those  of  Pem- 
berton  and  Johnson,  while  the  Federal  artillery 
bombarded  the  city  day  and  night.  Food  had 
become  so  scarce  in  Vicksburg  that  it  was  a  ques 
tion  whether  the  wolf  or  the  olive  branch  would 
get  inside  first.  With  marvellous  courage  and 
endurance,  the  Confederates  held  out  until  July  4. 
Then  the  army  and  the  city  surrendered.  Five 
days  later,  Port  Hudson  followed  the  example. 
Then  the  mighty  river  was  open  from  its  source 
to  the  sea.  Perry's  old  steam  frigate  the  Missis 
sippi  grounded  under  fire  of  the  batteries  and  was 
burned. 

Two  "  fires  in  the  rear  "  now  disturbed  the  Union 
cause.  One  was  an  outburst  of  ruffianism  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  when  rioters  tried  to  resist  the 
draft.  After  burning  a  negro  orphan  asylum, 
the  cowrards  melted  away  at  the  appearance  of  the 
famous  Sixth  Corps  of  veterans.  In  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  Morgan's  Confed 
erate  cavalry  made  a  destructive  raid,  only  to  be 
finally  captured  and  destroyed. 

In  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  in  September, 
Bragg  defeated  Rosecrans,  though  General  Thomas 
saved  the  day.  For  two  months  the  Union  army 
was  besieged  by  Bragg  in  Chattanooga.  Late  in 
November,  when  Hooker  and  Sherman  came  to 
command,  they  fought  a  battle  above  the  clouds, 


THE    WAR  FOR  FREEDOM.  237 

driving  the  Confederates  from  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Missionary  Ridge.  The  Confederates  fled  to 
Dalton,  Georgia.  Their  cause  was  further  weak 
ened  by  General  Sherman's  raid  into  Mississippi. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1864,  General  U.  S.  Grant 
was  made  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  Union  ar 
mies.  In  the  plan  of  campaign  arranged  with  Sher 
man,  it  was  decided  that  Grant  should  move  against 
Lee  and  Richmond,  while  Sherman  should  defeat 
Johnson  and  march  to  the  sea.  The  two  Union 
armies  were  to  unite  near  Richmond. 

The  last  bloody  and  decisive  campaign  which  sent 
the  Confederacy  to  oblivion,  gave  us  a  united  coun 
try  able  to  face  the  world.  Grant  began  his  ad 
vance  May  4.  In  the  region  of  country  called  the 
Wilderness  were  fought  indecisive  battles,  which, 
however,  weakened  the  Confederates.  The  con 
flicts  in  the  Wilderness  were  almost  exclusively 
fought  by  infantry  and  with  bullets,  for  both  cavalry 
and  artillery  were  nearly  useless.  Indeed,  these 
were  the  most  terrible  musketry  battles  known  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Grant  then  moved  by  the 
left  flank  southward,  where  at  Cold  Harbor  he 
hurled  his  men  upon  the  enemy's  intrenchments 
and  lost  over  ten  thousand  men  within  an  hour,  in 
flicting  also  great  loss. 

Finding  himself  unable  to  take  the  direct  line  of 
advance  against  the  elaborate  fortifications  of  Rich- 


238  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

mond,  Grant  moved  round  southward  to  Petersburg. 
At  once  both  armies  dropped  sword  and  musket  and 
began  with  pick  and  spade.  Two  grand  lines  of 
fortification,  a  comparatively  short  distance  apart, 
were  constructed.  Beside  a  line  of  ditches  and 
embankments,  with  bomb  proofs,  embrasures,  and 
flanking  guns,  there  were  covered  roads  by  which 
the  men  of  either  army  in  the  reserve  camps  could 
reach  their  casemates.  There  were  also  regularly 
constructed  forts  at  intervals  along  the  line  of  forty 
miles  or  so,  and  a  terrific  and  wasteful  bombardment 
was  kept  up  a  large  part  of  the  time.  During  the 
whole  campaign  one  battery  on  the  right  of  the 
Union  line,  "the  Petersburg  Express,"  sent  a  shell 
every  fifteen  minutes,  day  and  night,  into  various 
parts  of  the  Confederate  fortifications.  Thus  the 
winter  passed  away.  In  June,  1864,  came  news  of 
the  sinking  of  the  Alabama  by  the  Kearsarge. 

To  divert  Grant's  attention,  weaken  his  force, 
and  make  him  relax  his  grip,  Lee  sent  General 
Early  with  a  division  of  veterans  to  menace  Wash 
ington.  This  able  general  got  within  five  miles  of 
the  capital's  fortifications.  The  Sixth  Corps  was  sent 
up  the  Potomac  and  was  personally  met  in  Wash 
ington  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Getting  out  in  the  open 
fields  beyond  the  lines  of  defence,  they  drove  Early 
off,  after  he  had  helped  himself  freely  to  the  cattle 
and  horses  of  the  Maryland  farmers.  In  return, 


THE    WAR   FOR   FREEDOM.  23Q 

General  Grant  in  August  sent  Sheridan  into  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  with  a  force  of  Union  cavalry, 
to  destroy  everything  that  could  furnish  food.  The 
"  granary  of  the  Confederacy  "  was  so  utterly  wasted 
that  "if  a  crow  wanted  to  fly  the  length  of  the  val 
ley  he  must  take  his  rations  with  him."  To-day, 
some  of  the  most  picturesque  ruins  in  Virginia,  cov 
ered  with  the  creeper  and  the  trumpet-flower  vines, 
are  memorials  of  the  ruin  wrought  by  Grant's  orders. 

In  the  Union  army  were  mechanics  of  all  kinds. 
Every  trade  and  craft  was  represented.  A  study  of 
the  various  regiments  was  very  interesting,  because 
the  difference  in  the  ways  of  doing  things,  of  begin 
ning  or  getting  at  a  problem  and  solving  it,  varied 
so  greatly  among  the  different  regiments.  Accord 
ing  as  the  majority  of  men,  in  each  one,  might 
be  fishermen,  shoemakers,  lumbermen,  machinists, 
farmers,  clerks,  cowboys,  or  miners,  did  habits  and 
methods  differ.  In  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  regi 
ments  was  a  large  number  of  coal  miners.  They 
were  as  much  used  to  burrowing  under  ground  as 
are  moles  or  rats.  From  them  came  the  suggestion 
of  digging  an  underground  gallery  and  of  making  a 
mine  under  the  Confederate  fortifications,  by  which 
a  fort  could  be  blown  up  and  a  breach  made,  so  that 
the  Union  forces  could  rush  in,  pierce  the  centre, 
divide  and  capture  Lee*s  army. 

To  discover  the  site  of  the  mine,  of  which  they 


240  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

learned  from  deserters,  the  Confederates  went  to 
the  great  trouble  of  sinking  many  shafts  or  pits  in 
the  tough  clay,  but  they  could  not  find  the  subter 
ranean  chamber.  Meanwhile  the  Pennsylvanians 
burrowed  under  ground  and  placed  four  thousand 
pounds  of  powder  in  the  chamber.  Then,  after 
lighting  a  time-fuse,  preparations  were  made  to 
assault.  But  through  misunderstanding  the  whole 
affair  was  mismanaged.  After  the  engineering 
work  had  been  well  done  and  the  mines  sprung,  the 
explosion  blew  up  a  company  of  men,  horses,  and 
guns,  making  a  breach  several  hundred  feet  long, 
which  was  called  "  the  crater."  The  wary  Confed 
erates,  having  been  warned  beforehand,  rushed  so 
quickly  to  the  repulse  that  hundreds  of  Union  men 
were  slaughtered  in  the  hole,  and  others  made  pris 
oners. 

Sheridan,  after  long  and  careful  preparation,  moved 
on  Early 's  force  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  sev 
eral  battles  were  fought.  While  the  general  was 
away,  the  Union  army  was  surprised  at  Cedar 
Creek,  and  getting  into  a  panic  were  badly  driven 
by  the  Confederates  and  had  their  camps  looted. 
General  Crook  re-formed  the  Union  forces,  and 
Sheridan,  arriving  from  Winchester,  the  battle 
turned  to  a  victory.  Indeed,  Crook  was  a  power 
ful  intellectual  force  and  one  of  the  hardest  fighters 
in  Sheridan's  army.  To  him  much  of  the  credit 


UNIVERSITY  ; 


IP! 


MARCH    TO    THE    SEA. 


THE    WAR   FOR   FREEDOM.  241 

of  this  triumph,  and  not  a  little  in  other  victories 
of  Sheridan's,  is  due. 

Meanwhile,  Sherman  had  been  marching  from 
Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  where  the  chief  railway 
centre  and  factories  of  the  Confederacy  were.  Bat 
tles  were  fought  at  Resaca,  Dallas,  and  Kenesaw 
Mountain.  Yet  neither  opposing  armies,  nor  the 
roughness  of  the  hilly  country,  nor  the  steady  down 
pour  of  rain  during  three  weeks,  nor  the  burning 
of  bridges  and  tearing  up  of  railways  by  the  re 
treating  Confederates,  checked  the  Union  advance. 
Sherman's  men  fought,  built,  relaid,  and  destroyed. 
Like  a  vast  mowing  machine,  cutting  a  swath  of 
destruction  sixty  miles  wide,  the  Union  army  moved 
onward.  Though  he  had  lost  thirty  thousand  men, 
Sherman  captured  Atlanta,  burning  all  public  build 
ings  that  contributed  in  any  way  to  keep  up  the 
war.  It  was  hoped  in  Richmond  that  Sherman 
would  have  to  turn  back  in  order  to  help  Thomas, 
who  was  being  pressed  by  General  Hood;  but  leav 
ing  "  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga  "  to  take  care  of 
himself,  Sherman  set  out  with  his  face  toward  the 
sea,  two  hundred  miles  distant.  For  a  month  no 
body  in  the  North  heard  anything  from  him.  The 
slow  and  sure  Thomas  in  mid-December  attacked 
General  Hood,  demolished  his  army,  and  ended  the 
war  in  the  Southwest.  On  the  22d  of  December 
Sherman  from  Savannah  wrote  to  President  Lin- 


242  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

coin,  offering  him  as  a  Christmas  gift  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns, 
plenty  of  ammunition,  and  twenty-five  thousand 
bales  of  cotton.  On  the  ist  of  February,  after  a 
month's  rest,  Sherman  set  his  face  northward,  mak 
ing  a  seven  weeks'  march  through  mud,  rain,  and 
swamp,  besides  fighting  a  battle  at  Goldsboro.  On 
March  27,  at  City  Point,  Virginia,  he  and  General 
Grant  shook  hands. 

Meanwhile,  Farragut  and  his  fleet  attacked  Mo 
bile.  The  Confederates,  using  torpedoes,  blew  up 
and  rendered  useless  the  monitor  Tecumseh.  Fur 
thermore  they  had  the  Tennessee,  an  ironclad,  com 
manded  by  Captain  Franklin  Buchanan,  who  had 
also  fought  the  Merrimac.  It  was  built  of  materials 
which  only  a  few  months  before  had  been  timber  in 
the  forest  and  ore  in  the  ground.  Yet  Farragut  did 
not  hesitate  to  attack  the  forts  and  ironclads,  and 
even  to  ram  and  try  to  sink  the  iron  monsters  with 
his  wooden  ships.  After  a  heavy  battle  in  August, 
he  was  victorious  over  all  opposition,  and  sealed 
up  the  port  of  Mobile  while  the  army  garrisoned 
the  city. 

Like  the  constricting  coils  of  an  anaconda,  the 
Union  armies  now  closed  on  General  Lee's  forces. 
Sheridan  moved  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  cut 
the  railroads  and  canals  from  Lynchburg,  cutting 
off  supplies  from  the  West,  and  the  next  day  moved 


THE    WAR   FOR   FREEDOM.  243 

further  southward.  While  Lee  was  thus  occupied 
with  Sheridan,  Grant  ordered  an  advance  along  the 
whole  line,  capturing  Petersburg,  and  compelling 
Lee  to  retreat  from  Richmond,  which  was  soon 
occupied  by  our  forces.  Then  driving  forward  the 
fragments  of  a  once  great  army,  he  secured  Lee's 
surrender  at  Appomattox  Court  House.  There 
generous  terms  were  made  and  food  was  immedi 
ately  distributed  to  the  hungry.  Five  days  after 
ward,  on  the  same  day  that  the  Confederates  had 
won  their  first  victory,  Major  Anderson  hoisted  over 
Fort  Sumter  the  very  same  flag  he  had  lowered  four 
years  before.  Thus  ended  the  war  that  had  cost  a 
half  a  million  of  lives,  and  probably  $5,000,000,000. 
On  some  days  the  expenses  of  the  United  States 
government  were  over  $3,500,000  a  day. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

A    UNITED    COUNTRY. 

TWO  magnificent  pageants,  the  one  material  and 
the  other  moral,  were  witnessed  at  the  end  of 
the  war.  For  the  first  time  since  1861  the  armies 
of  the  East  and  of  the  West  made  one  host  in 
Washington.  On  May  23  and  24,  1865,  Pennsyl 
vania  Avenue  presented  a  spectacle,  the  like  of 
which  had  never  before  been  seen  on  the  American 
continent.  In  a  column  thirty  miles  long,  the 
bronzed  wrar  veterans  marched  from  the  capitol  up 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  past  the  Treasury  Department, 
the  reviewing  stand  where  the  President  and  his 
Cabinet  stood,  and  the  White  House.  Magnifi 
cent  the  display  of  Sheridan's  thirteen  thousand 
cavalry,  ponderous  the  rumbling  of  three  hundred 
pieces  of  artillery,  funny  beyond  all  telling  the 
sight  of  Sherman's  "  bummers,"  wonderful  the  array 
of  the  pontoon  train,  pathetic  the  eloquence  of  the 
torn  battle  flags,  and  brilliant  the  sheen  from  miles 
of  bayonets  as  the  sunbeams  played  upon  them ! 

I    remember,  when   as   a  student   preparing   for 
college,  how  with  my  tutor  I  took  the  night  boat 

244 


A    UNITED    COUNTRY.  24$ 

from  Philadelphia  down  the  Delaware  River  to 
Baltimore.  Then,  by  early  train,  we  reached  Wash 
ington.  I  saw  the  morning  set  her  crown  of 
light  upon  the  white  dome  of  the  capitol,  in  the 
great  space  fronting  which  the  veterans  of  the 
Western  armies  were  already  gathering.  These 
men  had  hewn  their  way  with  their  swords  down 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  crossed  Tennessee  to  At 
lanta,  marched  eastward  till  they  sniffed  the  salt  air 
of  Savannah,  and  then  pressed  northward  till  they 
joined  their  comrades  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
I  remember  how  I  was  impressed  while  looking  at 
Sherman,  with  his  splendid  staff  of  division  officers, 
and  in  hearing  them  talk. 

I  recall  especially  Custer,  "  the  boy  general  with 
the  golden  locks,"  who  led  his  regiments  of  cavalry 
which  had,  in  every  file,  thirty  horses  breast  to 
breast,  nostril  to  nostril,  and  hoof  to  hoof,  moving  for 
ward  and  keeping  dressed  with  wonderful  precision, 
while  their  riders  in  blue  held  the  bridles  in  their 
left  hand  and  their  flashing  sabres  in  the  other. 
The  young  general,  riding  a  fiery  spotted  mustang, 
wore  a  sombrero  or  wide-brimmed  Western  prairie 
hat  that  flared  up  in  front,  showing  his  broad  white 
forehead.  The  column  had  turned  to  the  right  at 
the  head  of  Fourteenth  Street.  A  lady  stepped 
out  from  the  sidewalk  with  a  large  wreath  of 
flowers,  which  she  was  about  to  put  over  the  mus- 


246  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

tang's  neck  or  the  general's,  —  I  could  not  tell  which, 
-  but  this  wild  Western  pony,  unused  to  such  atten 
tions,  leaped  forward  as  if  shot  out  of  a  cannon. 
The  general's  hat  fell  off,  but  he  did  not.  Not  even 
a  bucking  or  a  rearing  broncho  could  disturb  his 
firm  seat.  Yet  unexpected  and  in  advance  of  time, 
to  the  surprise  of  the  presidential  party  who  could 
not  understand  the  reason,  the  hatless  general 
reined  up  his  horse  firmly,  bowed,  and  rode  back. 
Soon  his  troopers  were  with  him,  and  his  hat  was 
on  for  a  profound  bow  to  the  President  when  next 
he  appeared.  On  the  field  of  battle  Custer  was 
accustomed  to  ride  ahead  of  his  men  toward  the 
foe,  and,  gallantly  making  his  bow  to  those  he  was 
about  to  fight,  to  ride  back  to  join  his  troops  and 
lead  their  charge.  To  his  own  men  the  episode 
seemed  a  natural  one. 

Glorious  as  the  grand  review  at  Washington  was, 
the  moral  pageant  was  even  more  impressive. 
Within  a  few  weeks  the  Union  armies  of  the  repub 
lic,  which  had  put  over  two  millions  of  men  into 
the  field,  were  disbanded.  The  American  soldiers 
both  North  and  South  handed  back  their  muskets 
and  equipments  of  war  and  went  to  their  home 
and  work.  Confederate  and  Federal  alike  took 
up  the  tools  of  peaceful  livelihood.  As  wonderfully 
as  in  fiction  Roderick  Dhu's  band,  or  in  mythology 
Cadmus's  armed  dragon 's-teeth  warriors,  the  uni- 


A    UNITED    COUNTRY,  247 

formed  hosts  of  armed  men  melted  away.  Noble  is 
the  record  of  almost  absolute  freedom  from  lawless 
ness  made  by  the  men  both  of  the  blue  and  the 
gray. 

After  a  few  years  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re 
public  was  formed  of  the  veterans  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces,  and  "  posts  "  were  established  in  most 
of  the  states,  while  the  men  of  the  gray  uniform 
formed  "  camps."  This  was  done  for  mutual  friend 
ship  and  assistance,  for  the  joys  of  memory  and  the 
pleasures  of  oratory  and  feasting,  and  the  inculca 
tion  of  patriotism.  It  became  the  custom  through 
out  the  Union  to  decorate  the  graves  of  comrades 
with  flowers.  In  time,  all  soldiers  who  had  served 
their  state  or  country  in  the  field,  and  all  sailors 
under  the  flag  at  sea  of  every  war,  were  remembered. 
In  later  years  Confederates  and  Federals  marched 
together  to  make  floral  tribute  to  the  brave.  Thus 
the  beautiful  institution,  the  "  American  festival  " 
of  Decoration  Day,  now  celebrated  in  all  lands 
and  on  all  seas,  became  fixed. 

All  this,  with  the  formation  of  various  other 
patriotic  fraternities,  for  women  as  well  as  men, 
gave  a  tremendous  impulse  to  the  study  of 
American  history  and  to  the  marking,  by  tablets 
and  other  monuments,  of  the  historic  sites  and 
spots  in  our  great  cities,  towns,  and  even  in  our 
villages.  In  churches  and  halls,  and  wherever  men 


248  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

gather,  the  deeds  of  the  brave  are  commemorated. 
The  United  States  government  began  the  laying  out 
of  national  cemeteries  for  the  care  and  in  honor  of 
those  who  died  for  their  country.  Near  all  the 
great  battlefields,  ample  plots  of  ground  were 
selected,  planted  with  trees,  beautiful  flowers,  and 
shrubbery,  and  made  lovely  and  attractive  with 
eloquent  emblems.  Over  each  burial  plot  the 
government  has  set  a  neat,  plain  monument,  or 
marking  stone  of  white  marble,  with  name,  dates, 
military  allocation,  or  has  had  chiselled  the  simple 
word  "  unknown."  On  the  battlefields,  the  scars 
of  which  "  nature  has  long  since  healed  and  recon 
ciled  to  herself  with  the  sweet  oblivion  of  flowers," 
private  munificence  and  national,  state,  or  municipal 
enterprise  have  reared  hundreds  of  memorials  in  art, 
making  these  once  bloody  fields  gardens  of  beauty. 
Gradually  the  passions  of  the  war  cooled.  Hatred 
and  bitterness  died  out.  The  "  march  of  years " 
meant  also  the  march  of  a  great  host,  who  every 
year  dropped  out  of  the  depleting  ranks  of  the 
Grand  Army,  and  were  laid  to  rest.  The  men  of 
the  newer  generation,  none  the  less  patriotic,  faced 
fresh  problems  and  questions.  They  were  more 
and  more  willing  to  bury  old  issues  and  inheritances 
from  the  four  years  of  strife.  The  veterans  who 
had  faced  each  other  through  rifts  of  battle-smoke, 
or  at  the  Bloody  Angle,  made  up  first. 


A    UNITED    COUNTR 

I  remember  well  being  at  the  dinner,  and  present 
as  a  guest  and  speaker,  given  in  Faneuil  Hall,  in 
Boston,  where  the  Robert  E.  Lee  Camp,  of  Rich 
mond,  and  the  John  A.  Andrew  Post,  of  Boston, 
ate,  drank,  made  speeches,  embraced  each  other  in 
friendship,  "  fought  their  battles  o'er  "  in  harmony, 
and  pledged  mutual  vows  of  loyalty  to  the  Union. 
It  seemed  as  if,  from  the  canvas  on  the  walls  which 
had  reechoed  with  the  eloquence  of  Samuel  Adams 
and  Daniel  Webster,  the  faces  of  the  great  states 
men  looked  down  in  hearty  approval.  Orators 
and  poets  took  up  the  theme  of  reconciliation. 
The  sectional  politicians  and  the  parsons  kept  up 
the  war  still  longer,  while  those  that  never  did  any 
of  the  real  righting  were  last  of  all  to  yearn  for  and 
seek  the  benison  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  "  Blessed 
are  the  peacemakers." 

In  time  the  great  war  story  was  told  in  the  bloom 
of  art,  the  uprearing  of  monuments,  the  fascinations 
of  literature  and  the  drama,  and  in  dispassionate 
narration.  In  the  true  perspective  of  history  the 
men  of  the  North  and  the  South  honor  each  other. 

Nothing  exhibits  the  moral  stamina  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  peoples  more  than  their  capacity  to  accept 
results,  when  the  issue  has  been  tried  and  the  war 
is  over  —  that  is,  when  the  other  side  has  had  its 
innings.  General  Robert  E.  Lee  set  a  shining 
example. 


250  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

This  war  revealed  also  the  possibilities  of  the  men 
of  African  descent.  Can  their  story  be  told  better 
than  is  told  on  the  memorial  to  Colonel  Robert  G. 
Shaw  on  Boston  Common  ?  President  Eliot,  of 
Harvard  University,  who  has  written  of  "  American 
Contributions  to  Civilization,"  thus  puts  a  stout 
volume  in  a  few  words :  — 

"The  black  rank  and  file  volunteered  when  disaster  clouded 
the  Union  cause ;  served  without  pay  for  eighteen  months,  till 
given  that  of  white  troops  ;  faced  threatened  enslavement  if  cap 
tured  ;  were  brave  in  action,  patient  under  heavy  and  dangerous 
labors,  and  cheerful  amid  hardships  and  privations. 

"Together  they  gave  to  the  nation  and  the  world  undying 
proof  that  Americans  of  African  descent  possess  the  pride,  cour 
age,  and  devotion  of  the  patriot  soldier.  One  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  such  Americans  enlisted  under  the  Union  flag 
in  MDCCCLXIII-MDCCCLXV." 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

AMERICAN    MARINES    AND    SAILORS    IN    KOREA. 

OUT  from  the  mainland  of  China  rises  the 
mountainous  island  of  Formosa,  or  the  Beau 
tiful,  so  named  by  the  Portuguese  who  were  first 
struck  with  its  attractive  form.  Japanese  naviga 
tors  came  here  in  old  days,  but  so  long  ago  that 
the  history  of  their  expeditions  has  become  nurs 
ery  and  fairy  tales.  Only  in  recent  centuries  have 
Chinese  settled  on  the  shores  and  plains,  especially 
in  the  north,  and  not  until  1683  did  they  take  pos 
session  and  assume  the  government  of  the  island. 

The  Formosan  camphor  trees  are  the  most  won 
derful  in  the  world.  This  is  the  land  of  the  sky- 
blue  bamboo.  No  island,  perhaps,  in  all  the  earth 
is  so  rich  in  timber.  In  the  mountains  and  on  the 
east  coast  live  the  copper-colored,  head-hunting 
aborigines.  They  belong  to  that  great  drift  of 
humanity  in  the  island  world,  from  the  Philippines 
to  the  Alaska  peninsula,  which  extends  in  a  circle 
and  has  furnished  the  ancestors  of  the  North  Amer 
ican  Indians.  The  more  civilized  Japanese,  who 
are  also  relatives  to  these  red  men,  and  used  to  cut 

251 


252  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

off  their  enemy's  heads  after  every  battle,  have,  in 
the  orderly  evolution  of  time,  changed  head-hunting 
into  a  game  of  polo,  in  which  red  and  white  balls 
take  the  place  of  human  skulls. 

The  American  bark  Rover,  whose  captain  had 
also  his  family  with  him,  was  wrecked  in  south 
eastern  Formosa,  and  all  on  board  were  murdered. 
As  the  Chinese  mandarins  could  do  nothing,  Ad 
miral  Bell,  on  June  13,  1867,  landed  a  force  of 
nearly  two  hundred  marines  and  sailors  from  the 
war  steamers  Hartford  and  Wyoming.  Our  men 
plunged  into  the  bamboo  jungles  to  punish  these 
savages,  and  perhaps  cannibals.  In  the  tangled 
thickets  it  was  hardly  possible  to  see  more  than  a 
few  feet  ahead,  and  the  red  rascals  knew  the  ground 
far  better  than  the  white  strangers.  It  was  so  hot 
and  so  moist,  so  gloomy  and  twilight-like,  that  it 
was  like  fighting  a  battle  in  a  bathroom  filled  with 
steam.  All  that  our  men  could  do  was  to  burn  a 
few  huts.  Only  occasionally  did  they  catch  sight 
of  the  flash  of  a  gun  barrel  or  see  a  puff  of  smoke. 
How  many  were  slain  on  the  Formosan  side  is  not 
known,  but  one  of  our  brave  and  gallant  officers. 
Alexander  Slidell  MacKenzie,  was  killed.  He  was 
buried  in  the  garden  of  the  British  consulate  at 
Takao.  When  the  funeral  was  over,  one  of  the 
officers  named  Sigsbee,  who  was  a  good  artist,  made 
a  sketch  of  the  sad  scene  for  MacKenzie's  family 


AMERICAN  MARINES  AND   SAILORS  IN  KOREA.      253 

and  sent  it  to  them.  Sigsbee  was  afterward  com 
mander  of  the  battleship  Maine,  destroyed  in  Ha 
vana  harbor  in  1898. 

Although  Korea  still  kept  herself  shut  off  from 
the  world,  thinking  herself  safe,  her  very  isolation 
tempted  marauders.  Our  American  sailors  ship 
wrecked  on  her  shores  were  fed  and  escorted  over 
the  frontier  and  delivered  to  the  United  States 
Consul  at  Newchwang  in  Manchuria. 

This  was  the  seaport  at  which  during  the  year 
1894-1895  the  United  States  steamship  Alert  was 
fixed  for  the  winter,  lying  inside  of  a  sort  of  dry 
dock  made  by  excavating  the  mud  and  surrounding 
her  by  earthwork  fortification.  Covered  over  with 
canvas,  the  ship  served  as  a  fort  for  the  protection 
of  American  interests  in  that  region  during  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  war. 

A  German  Jew,  a  French  Catholic  priest,  and 
the  renegade  son  of  an  American  Protestant  mis 
sionary,  with  a  lot  of  the  riffraff  of  humanity,  mostly 
Chinese,  collected  from  the  wharves  of  Shanghai, 
with  some  Manila  men  from  the  Philippines,  made 
a  raid  into  Korea  in  1866.  The  American  supplied 
the  money,  Feron,  the  French  priest,  was  pilot,  and 
Oppert,  the  Hebrew,  commanded  the  motley  expe 
dition.  Running  their  little  steamer  up  a  certain 
river  at  high  tide,  they  marched  overland.  They 
expected,  with  coal  shovels,  to  open  the  grave  and 


254  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST, 

dig  up  the  bones  of  the  Korean  Regent's  ancestors, 
in  order  to  hold  them  to  ransom.  They  would  thus 
compel  him  to  open  the  country  to  foreign  trade. 

Instead  of  a  plain  grave,  they  found  a  granite 
mausoleum.  Unable  to  make  much  impression  on 
heavy  masonry,  and  being  pressed  by  the  infuriated 
natives,  they  had  to  retreat.  Thousands  of  angry 
Koreans  gathered  menacingly  about  them.  After 
ward,  when  landing  on  the  island  of  Kangwa  to 
steal  sheep  in  order  to  get  fresh  mutton,  they  were 
fired  upon,  and  a  Manila  man  was  wounded.  This 
caused  the  Spanish  Consul  to  begin  an  investiga 
tion,  which  brought  out  the  facts  in  the  case.  Yet 
no  one  was  convicted  or  imprisoned.  Is  it  any  won 
der  that  the  Koreans  did  not  at  first  take  kindly  to 
intercourse  with  Americans  ? 

Another  expedition  of  illegal  entrance  into  Ko 
rean  waters,  and  therefore  piratical,  was  made  in 
this  same  year.  Whether  for  lawful  or  unlawful 
purposes,  is  not  known,  for  no  one  survived  to  tell 
the  tale.  In  August  the  schooner  General  Sher 
man  went  up  the  Ping  Yang  River.  The  crew  con 
sisted  of  the  owner,  master,  and  mate,  who  were 
Americans,  a  Scottish  missionary,  who  wished  to 
learn  the  Korean  language,  and  an  Englishman  with 
a  Chinese  money-counter,  or  expert,  called  a  shroof, 
beside  the  pilot  and  force  of  Chinese  working  the 
craft.  The  cargo  consisted  of  cotton  cloth,  glass, 


AMERICAN  MARINES  AND   SAILORS  IN  KOREA.       255 

tin  plate,  and  such  other  articles  as  the  Koreans 
were  likely  to  want.  This  was  called  "  an  experi 
mental  trading  voyage,"  and  may  have  been  hon 
estly  so  called.  But  when  the  General  Sherman 
got  into  the  river  and  near  Ping  Yang  city,  the 
Koreans,  with  fire  rafts,  bows  and  arrows,  and  match 
locks,  attacked  and  killed  them  all  and  then  burned 
up  the  vessel.  Years  afterward  a  brave  young  offi 
cer  named  John  G.  Bernadou,  who  in  the  Spanish 
war  of  1898  commanded  the  Winslow,  on  which 
Ensign  Bagley  was  killed  and  he  himself  wounded, 
went  up  into  North  Korea  and  investigated  the 
affair  of  the  General  Sherman. 

Two  of  our  ships  —  the  Wachusett,  Captain 
Febiger,  and  afterward  the  Ticonderoga,  Commo 
dore  Shufeldt  —  were  despatched  to  Korean  waters  ; 
but  receiving  little  or  no  satisfaction  it  was  thought 
necessary,  in  1870,  to  send  out  a  squadron  under 
Commodore  John  Rodgers,  with  our  minister  to 
China  on  board,  to  make  a  treaty ;  or,  if  necessary, 
to  chastise  the  Koreans.  Soon  there  were  assem 
bled  on  the  Chinese  coast  at  Tientsin  the  follow 
ing  vessels  of  war:  Colorado,  Admiral  Farragut's 
old  flagship,  and  so  handsome  that  it  was  called  in 
the  East  by  the  French  officers  "La  Belle  Fr'e- 
gate"  the  corvette  Alaska,  and  the  smaller  vessels 
Ashuelot  and  Monocacy.  The  latter  was  a  double- 
ender,  long  and  narrow,  having  a  rudder  at  each 


256  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

extremity  so  that  she  could  become  stem  or  stern  at 
will.  By  this  time  the  British  had  begun  to  build 
ironclads,  and  our  wooden  vessels,  although  neat 
and  trim,  looked  to  the  British  and  French  officers 
very  old-fashioned  and  antiquated.  The  Koreans, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Regent,  or  Tai  Wen  Kun, 
built  eight  forts  on  the  Han  River,  made  bullet 
proof  cotton  coats,  and  ironclad  helmets  of  many 
thicknesses  of  cotton  cloth,  and  prepared  with  the 
tiger  hunters  and  other  men  used  to  spears,  arrows, 
and  firearms  to  resist  the  American  invaders. 

The  squadron  arrived  off  Boisee  Island,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Han  River,  on  May  30.  Twelve 
days  later,  the  two  lighter  war  steamers  and  the 
steam  launches,  under  command  of  Captain  Blake, 
moved  up  to  survey.  When  our  men  had  rounded 
the  bend  where  the  water  ran  in  a  narrow  channel 
a  hundred  yards  wide,  making  almost  a  whirlpool, 
they  saw  to  their  surprise  a  new  earthwork,  in 
which  scores  of  small  cannon  were  as  numerous  as 
if  ranged  on  the  floor  of  an  arsenal.  Only  a  few 
thirty-two  pounders  had  been  mounted  in  the 
embrasures ;  but  on  heavy  logs,  nailed  or  lashed 
together  in  groups  of  five,  were  clumsy  jingals  or 
breech-loading  cannon,  like  those  used  by  Cortez 
and  Pizarro  hundreds  of  years  before.  In  these, 
the  iron  breech  could  be  taken  out,  filled  with  a 
cartridge,  and  then  replaced  and  pinned  down,  los- 


AMERICAN  MARINES  AND  SAILORS  IN  KOREA.      2$J 

ing  much  of  the  powder's  force  at  the  joint.  In 
some  of  the  rude  guns  was,  not  one  touch-hole,  but 
a  row  of  vents  to  help  the  poor  powder  ignite  more 
quickly. 

The  Korean  general  had  expected  to  open  on  the 
Americans  just  as  they  turned  the  rocky  point  and 
sink  the  whole  line  of  steam  launches,  after  the  two 
steamers  had  forged  ahead.  The  treacherous  rascal 
was  a  moment  too  late  in  giving  the  signal  to  fire. 
Our  men  were  wet  to  the  skin  with  the  splash  of 
the  river,  lashed  by  hundreds  of  missiles ;  but  only 
one  American  was  wounded,  and  none  of  the  boats 
was  hurt.  The  little  steam  launches  soon  opened 
their  bow  guns,  and  the  four  brass  howitzers  began 
to  play.  The  Palos  and  Monocacy,  somewhat 
ahead  of  the  launches,  turned  back  and  soon  their 
ten-inch  shells  were  dropping  among  the  white- 
coated  Koreans,  who  fled  from  the  fort,  leaving  it 
empty  and  silent. 

Commodore  Rodgers  waited  ten  days  for  the 
Korean  government,  or  local  officers,  to  make  apol 
ogy  for  their  treachery ;  but  no  apology  came.  A 
landing  force  was  therefore  organized  to  attack  and 
destroy  the  whole  line  of  forts,  seven  in  number,  and 
built  on  the  bluffs  fronting  the  river.  Twenty 
boats  and  four  launches  were  to  be  towed  by  the 
Palos  and  Monocacy.  Ten  companies  of  infantry, 
made  up  of  105  marines  and  546  sailors,  were  to  be 


258  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

put  in  command  of  Lieutenant  Commander  Win- 
field  Scott  Schley.  The  Monocacy  had  her  bat 
tery  increased  with  two  nine-inch  guns  from  the 
Colorado. 

On  the  loth  of  June  the  chastising  expedition 
moved  up  the  Han  River.  The  heavy  guns  of  the 
Monocacy  first  breached  the  stone  walls  and  then 
emptied  the  first  fort  with  her  shells.  Our  men 
landed  at  a  point  below  the  fort,  and  went  into 
camp,  after  destroying  everything  destructible  in 
side  the  fort.  The  marines  occupied  a  post  in 
advance  to  guard  against  a  rush  from  the  Koreans, 
who,  dressed  in  white,  could  be  seen  like  ghosts 
moving  about  in  the  darkness  and  occasionally 
firing  on  our  pickets.  Under  the  stars  our  men  lay 
down  to  rest  before  the  day  of  toil  and  glory  that 
awaited  them  on  the  morrow,  which  was  Sunday. 

The  next  day  the  reveille  was  sounded  and  the 
men  called  to  breakfast.  After  everything  combus 
tible  in  the  fort,  including  the  provisions  of  rice  and 
dried  fish,  had  been  piled  up  and  set  on  fire,  the 
march  began  at  seven  o'clock,  with  the  river  on  the 
right.  The  rough  roads  were  only  bridle  paths 
through  rice  swamps  and  over  hills.  The  marines 
led  the  advance,  and  the  sailors  dragged  their  Dahl- 
gren  howitzers  up  hill  and  down  dale.  Coming  to 
the  middle  line  of  intrenchments,  the  land  force  had 
only  to  wait  while  the  good  ship  dropped  her  shells 


AMERICAN  MARINES  AND   SAILORS  IN  KOREA.      259 

inside  the  fort,  which  made  the  white-coats  fly  with 
out  firing  their  guns.  It  seems  curious,  but  such 
is  the  fact,  that  in  the  Japanese  invasion  of  Korea 
in  1592  the  Koreans  invented  and  used  bombshells, 
which  they  called  "  Heaven-shaking  thunder,"  and 
even  built  ironclad  ships  or  tortoise-armored  men- 
of-war  to  resist  the  Japanese.  Now  they  had  only 
matchlocks  and  jingals. 

Our  men  entered  and  tumbled  the  sixty  brass  can 
non  of  two-inch  bore  over  the  cliffs  into  the  river. 
Then  under  the  hot  sun  they  resumed  the  march 
in  the  steaming  heat.  The  pioneers,  sappers,  and 
miners  mended  the  road  by  cutting  bushes,  filling 
hollows,  and  widening  the  paths. 

Meanwhile  the  Koreans  had  gathered  in  large 
masses  on  the  left,  evidently  hoping  to  get  into  the 
rear  and  make  an  attack  with  a  rush,  while  our  men 
were  getting  ready  to  storm  the  main  fort.  To 
checkmate  this  move,  a  detachment  of  three  com 
panies  with  five  howitzers  were  posted  so  as  to 
guard  the  flank  and  rear  of  our  main  body.  The 
sailors  in  two  detachments  had  to  be  quick  in  get 
ting  the  guns  in  position,  —  three  on  one  hill  and  two 
on  the  other, — for  the  natives  charged  up  the  hill  in 
the  very  teeth  of  the  shells  from  the  howitzers  fired 
at  both  long  and  short  range.  Our  artillerists  used 
shrapnel,  or  bombs  filled  with  bullets,  which  not 
only  explode  but  drive  each  ball  with  a  musket's 


260          THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

force.  Coolly  they  took  aim,  and  their  fine  practice 
saved  the  day.  The  Koreans  were  driven  back  and 
scattered.  Often  one  exploding  shell  seemed  to 
make  twenty  men  first  to  leap  into  the  air  and  then 
fall  dead  or  wounded. 

The  Monocacy  out  in  the  river  moved  abreast  of 
our  men,  and  threw  bombs  into  the  main  fort  on 
the  promontory,  just  eastward  of  the  rocky  point, 
from  which  the  Koreans  had  fired  on  our  boats 
on  June  i.  The  nine-inch  shells  pierced  the  walls 
and  dropped  into  the  forts,  but  the  garrison  bravely 
held  their  ground.  The  howitzers  on  the  hilltops, 
now  free,  turned  their  muzzles  and  fired  into  the 
fort,  over  the  heads  of  our  men,  who  were  resting 
in  the  cool  ravine  before  charging  up  the  hill. 
This  citadel,  the  key  to  the  whole  line  of  fortifica 
tions,  was  150  feet  high  from  the  bottom  of  the 
glen.  With  the  redoubt  below  it  mounted  143 
guns.  Our  ship  folk  were  to  rush  up  the  steep 
acclivity,  which  seemed  more  fitted  for  goats  to 
climb  and  birds  to  fly  over  than  for  marines  and 
sailors  to  scale. 

However,  the  Monocacy  s  shells  had  breached  the 
walls,  and  through  these  openings  our  marines  and 
blue-jackets  could  enter.  Led  by  their  officers,  they 
dashed  up  the  hill.  The  natives,  knowing  that 
death  was  sure,  began  to  chant  a  patriotic  song. 
Then,  after  emptying  their  jingals  and  matchlocks, 


AMERICAN  MARINES  AND   SAILORS  IN  KOREA.     261 

they  leaped  on  the  parapet.  Not  being  able  to  load 
quickly  enough,  they  hurled  stones  at  the  assault 
ing  force,  and  even  hurled  dust  into  the  eyes  of 
the  foreigners.  Then  with  spear  and  sword  they 
rushed  at  our  officers,  who  were  the  first  inside. 
The  first  American  over  the  parapet  was  Lieu 
tenant  McKee,  after  whom  one  of  the  new  torpedo 
boats  has  been  named,  and  whose  father  was  also 
killed  in  a  breach  during  the  Mexican  war.  McKee 
was  shot  and  speared,  but  Commander  Winfield 
Scott  Schley,  now  admiral,  rushed  to  support  McKee, 
and  was  made  a  target  by  the  same  foe.  The 
Korean  who  made  the  lunge  missed  his  body, 
and  the  iron  blade  passed  between  chest  and  arm; 
so  Schley  was  saved  for  Santiago.  Immediately 
a  carbine  bullet  stretched  the  Korean  flat.  There 
was  a  terrible  hand-to-hand  conflict  inside  the  fort 
between  the  men  in  white  and  in  blue,  but  the 
Koreans  not  killed  outright  were  chased  outside  in 
droves  and  shot  as  they  ran  down  the  hill.  When 
the  smoke  cleared  away,  243  corpses  in  white  gar 
ments  were  counted  in  and  around  the  fort,  and 
at  least  one  hundred  were  drowned  or  floated  as 
corpses  on  the  river.  Only  twenty  prisoners,  all 
wounded,  were  taken  alive.  Two  of  our  men  were 
killed  and  ten  wounded. 

After  forty-eight  hours  on  shore  our  naval  peo 
ple  had  captured  five  forts,  fifty  flags,  and  nearly 


262  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

five  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  of  which  twenty- 
seven  were  heavy  cannon,  and  the  rest  jingals. 
On  Monday  morning  the  whole  force  reembarked. 
The  long  line  of  boats  towed  by  the  Monocacy 
made  a  splendid  sight.  The  flags  —  their  staves 
tufted  with  pheasant  feathers,  and  their  canvas  gay 
with  bright  paintings  of  flying  serpents,  winged 
tigers  holding  lightning  in  their  claws,  moun 
tain  gods  riding  on  piebald  ponies,  mountains 
robed  in  thunder  clouds,  and  other  emblems 
of  power  —  decorated  the  masts  of  the  Monocacy. 
At  half-past  ten  the  victors  rejoined  their  comrades 
at  Boisee  Island,  the  cheers  of  the  welcoming  sail 
ors  making  the  woodlands  ring.  On  July  5,  after 
a  stay  of  thirty-five  days  in  Korean  waters,  Admiral 
John  Rodgers  returned  to  Chifu,  in  China. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

OUR    EXPANDING    EMPIRE    ON    THE    PACIFIC. 

ON  the  Pacific,  the  greatest  of  oceans,  the  Amer 
icans  were,  in  their  enterprise,  far  in  advance 
of  possession.  Generations  before  they  owned  an 
acre  of  land  on  the  Pacific  coast,  two  ships  from 
Boston  —  the  Columbia,  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 
tons,  and  the  sloop  Washington,  of  ninety  tons  — 
had  reached  Nootka  Sound,  and  passed  the  winter 
there.  Captain  Gray  explored  Queen  Charlotte's 
Sound  and  the  Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  and 
having  collected  a  cargo  of  furs,  took  them  to 
Canton.  He  brought  back  a  cargo  of  tea  to  Bos 
ton,  and,  having  rounded  Capes  Horn  and  Good 
Hope,  his  was  thus  the  first  American  vessel  to 
carry  the  flag  around  the  world. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  East  India  Company 
kept  out  British  merchants  from  the  Pacific  trade, 
while  Russian  ships  were  not  allowed  in  Chinese 
ports,  very  few  vessels  except  those  floating  the 
stars  and  stripes  were  seen  in  the  Pacific,  or  at 
least  the  northern  half  of  it.  Until  1814  the  direct 
trade  between  China  and  all  North  and  South 

263 


264  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

America,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  continent,  was 
carried  on  by  American  ships. 

The  Russians  wished  to  keep  our  ships  out  of 
their  Alaskan  possessions,  and  they  claimed  the 
land  and  all  the  coast  down  to  the  Columbia  River. 
Had  the  Russians  been  able  to  carry  on  their  com 
merce  without  our  help,  they  would  gladly  have 
shut  out  our  vessels;  but  they  could  not.  In  1806 
the  question  was,  for  a  time,  settled  by  the  Ameri 
can  ship  Juno  coming  in  with  provisions,  and  sav 
ing  the  Russian  garrison  and  settlers  at  Sitka  from 
dying  of  starvation. 

The  American  eagle  found  himself  between  the 
two  difficulties  of  trying  to  please  both  the  Russian 
bear  and  the  British  lion,  for  both  nations  claimed 
a  large  part  of  the  western  coast  of  North  America. 
In  1821  the  Czar  Alexander  issued  an  ukase,  de 
claring  that  the  water  between  the  northwestern 
coast  of  America,  from  Behring  Strait  to  Van 
couver's  Island,  and  the  coast  of  Asia  from  East 
Cape,  in  Siberia,  almost  down  to  the  island  of  Vezo, 
was  a  closed  sea.  In  otjier  words,  the  whole  Pacific 
Ocean  north  of  45°  50'  belonged  to  Russia.  The 
autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  said:  "It  is  therefore 
prohibited  to  all  foreign  vessels,  not  only  to  land  on 
the  coasts  and  islands  belonging  to  Russia,  as  stated 
above,  but  also  to  approach  within  less  than  one 
hundred  Italian  miles.  The  transgressor's  vessel 


OUR  EXPANDING  EMPIRE    ON   THE  PACIFIC.        26$ 

is  subject  to  confiscation,  along  with  the  whole 
cargo." 

This  was  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  the  kind  of 
action  likely  to  be  expected  from  the  autocrat  who, 
when  shown  the  plans  of  the  Russian  engineers 
for  the  making  of  a  railway  from  Moscow  to  St. 
Petersburg,  simply  took  a  ruler  and,  drawing  on  the 
map  a  straight  line  between  the  two  points,  said, 
"  Let  that  be  the  route."  In  spite  of  all  the  ex 
pense  involved,  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  this 
became  the  route.  But  the  United  States  never 
approved  of  monarchy,  which  means  one-man 
power. 

At  this  time  none  of  our  people,  so  far  as  known 
at  that  time,  could  read  Russian.  Indeed,  even 
as  late  as  forty  years  ago,  no  English-speaking 
person  could  read  a  book  written  in  Japanese  or 
Korean.  The  accounts  of  the  first  explorers  in 
the  northern  Pacific,  being  expressed  in  the  Mus 
covite's  tongue,  and  not  yet  translated  into  Eng 
lish,  were  unknown,  and  therefore  the  Czar's  claims 
were  mistrusted  by  our  government.  Mr.  John 
Adams,  after  perusing  all  the  books  of  travel  and 
discovery  in  this  region  of  the  earth  that  he  could 
get,  found  that  the  Russians'  claims  were  not  thor 
oughly  well  grounded.  He  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  I 
find  proof  enough  to  put  down  the  Russian  govern 
ment  ;  but  how  shall  we  answer  the  Russian  can- 


266  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

non  ?  "  When  Mr.  Adams  met  the  Czar's  minister, 
Baron  de  Tuyl,  who  was  a  very  agreeable  gentle 
man,  he  set  forth  very  strongly  what  has  since  be 
come  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Perhaps  this  is  the 
first  clear  expression  of  it  in  American  history. 

Mr.  Adams  said,  "  I  told  him  specially  that  we 
should  contest  the  right  of  Russia  to  any  territorial 
establishment  on  this  continent;  and  that  we  should 
assume  distinctly  the  principle  that  the  American 
continents  are  no  longer  subjects  for  any  new 
European  colonial  establishment." 

The  Russian  Baron  was  troubled  because  Com 
modore  Hull,  of  Old  Ironsides  fame,  was  going  to 
take  command  of  a  Pacific  squadron,  and  some  of 
the  toasts  drunk  at  his  farewell  dinner  seemed  to 
be  warlike  in  tone.  It  was  feared  there  might 
be  bloodshed  between  the  Americans  and  the 
Russian  cruisers.  Happily  for  both  countries, 
two  good  men  were  at  work.  A  liberal  treaty  was 
made,  in  which  the  autocrat  gave  up  his  tremendous 
claim.  The  boundary  line  of  Russian  America  was 
fixed  at  54°  40'.  Intoxicating  liquors,  firearms, 
weapons,  powder,  or  munitions  of  war  were  forbid 
den  to  be  sold  to  the  natives.  It  was  evident  that 
the  Russian  Emperor  was  entering  into  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  and  wished  to  stand  well  in  the  world's  pub 
lic  opinion. 

This    dispute    attracted    much   public    attention. 


OUR   EXPANDING  EMPIRE    ON    THE  PACIFIC.        267 

The  British  were  glad  that  our  country  had  become 
the  leading  power  in  arresting  the  expansive  ambi 
tion  of  Russia.  Our  own  newspapers  were  full  of 
lively  paragraphs  and  squibs,  which  showed  that  the 
United  States  did  not  intend  to  submit  quietly  to 
the  decrees  of  an  autocrat. 

The  Baltimore  Chronicle  of  May  10,  1823,  pub 
lished  this  lively  bit  of  doggerel :  — 

"  Old  Neptune  one  morning  was  seen  on  the  rocks, 
Shedding  tears  by  the  pailful,  and  tearing  his  locks ; 
He  cried, '  a  Land  Lubber  has  stole,  on  this  day, 
Full  four  thousand  miles  of  my  ocean  away ; 

"'He  swallows  the  earth  '  (he  exclaims  with  emotion), 
<  And  then  to  quench  appetite,  slap  goes  the  ocean ; 
Brother  Jove  must  look  out  for  his  skies,  let  me  tell  ye, 
Or  the  Russian  will  bury  them  all  in  his  belly.' " 

This  treaty  and  the  succeeding  discussions  at  St. 
Petersburg  deepened  the  old  friendship  between 
America  and  Russia.  This  had  begun  as  far  back 
as  the  time  when  William  Penn  and  Czar  Peter  en 
joyed  a  friendly  talk  on  disarmament  and  the  federa 
tion  of  nations.  It  was  increased  by  the  action  of 
Queen  Catherine,  who  would  hire  no  Russian  mer 
cenaries  to  help  George  III  in  his  attempted  subju 
gation  of  Americans.  It  was  continued  when,  in 
1813,  Dashkoff,  the  Russian  minister  at  Washing 
ton,  offered,  by  direction  of  the  Czar,  that  friendly 


268  THE   ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

mediation  which  issued  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent. 
Commodore  M.  C.  Perry  visited  Cronstadt  in  the 
United  States  ship  Concord,  taking  John  Randolph, 
our  minister,  there,  and  this  time  we  had  at  least  one 
American,  Professor  Jenks,  who  could  talk  Russian. 

Later  on,  Americans  helped  to  build  the  Russian 
railways,  even  as  they  are  doing  now.  When  proud 
nobles,  who  looked  down  upon  these  gentlemen 
from  Philadelphia,  who  had  been  educated,  as  Wash 
ington  had  been,  to  be  engineers,  the  white  Czar, 
in  the  brilliant  ball-room  and  before  all  the  digni 
taries  of  the  empire,  honored  them  by  walking  arm 
in  arm  with  his  guests  from  beyond  the  sea.  After 
this  our  countrymen  were  honored  by  all. 

The  two  peoples  became  better  acquainted  with 
each  other,  and  commerce  increased.  There  was 
mutual  sympathy  when  the  Czar  set  free  the  serfs 
and  President  Lincoln  emancipated  the  negro 
slaves.  Again  responsive  chords  were  struck, 
when  both  liberators  met  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
assassin,  —  one  by  the  pistol  of  a  fanatic  and  the 
other  by  the  dynamite  glass-bomb  of  an  anarchist. 
During  our  Civil  War,  had  Great  Britain  begun  hos 
tilities  against  us,  a  Russian  fleet  was  ready  in  wait 
ing  in  our  waters  to  lend  us  assistance,  and  the 
Russians  would  have  been  our  allies. 

The  charter  of  the  Russian-American  company, 
which  had  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  was  renewed 


OUR  EXPANDING  EMPIRE    ON   7' HE  PACIFIC,        269 

in  1839.  From  this  date  until  1859  British  and 
American  vessels  were  not  allowed  to  trade  in  the 
ports  of  Russian  America,  and  difficulties  arose. 
Eight  years  later,  all  questions  were  settled  by  the 
treaty  negotiated  by  Mr.  Seward,  and  ratified  by  the 
Senate  in  special  session  March  30,  1867.  For 
the  sum  of  $7,200,000,  all  the  Russian  possessions 
in  America  were  sold  outright,  without  any  incum- 
brance,  and  became  part  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Seward  was  a  far-sighted  patriot  and  one 
of  the  ablest  in  the  long  line  of  American  diploma 
tists.  Like  Washington,  Jefferson,  Jackson,  Cass, 
Marcy,  and  other  great  statesmen  of  either  party, 
Seward  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  right  and  duty  of 
national  expansion.  In  his  speech  at  Sitka,  in  1869, 
he  prophesied  that,  - 

"  The  Pacific  Ocean,  its  shores,  its  islands,  and 
the  vast  region  beyond  will  become  the  chief  theatre 
of  events  in  the  world's  great  hereafter." 

In  1852,  in  his  eulogy  of  Henry  Clay,  he  had 
said :  — 

"  We  are  rising  to  another  and  more  sublime 
stage  of  national  progress  —  that  of  expanding 
wealth  and  rapid  territorial  aggrandizement. 

u  Our  institutions  throw  a  broad  shadow  across 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and.  stretching  beyond  the  valley 
of  Mexico,  reach  even  to  the  plains  of  Central 
America;  while  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the 


27O  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

shores  of  China  recognize  their  renovating  influ 
ence.  Wherever  that  influence  is  felt,  a  desire  for 
protection  under  those  institutions  is  awakened. 

"  Expansion  seems  to  be  regulated,  not  by  any 
difficulties  of  resistance,  but  by  the  moderation 
which  results  from  our  own  internal  constitution. 
No  one  knows  how  rapidly  that  restraint  may  give 
way.  Who  can  tell  how  far  or  how  fast  it  ought  to 
yield  ?  Commerce  has  brought  the  ancient  conti 
nents  near  to  us,  and  created  necessities  for  new 
positions,  —  perhaps  connections  or  colonies  there, 
—  and  with  the  trade  and  friendship  of  the  elder 
nations,  their  conflicts  and  collisions  are  brought 
to  our  doors  and  to  our  hearts.  Our  sympathy 
kindles,  or  indifference  extinguishes,  the  fires  of 
freedom  in  foreign  lands.  Before  we  shall  be  fully 
conscious  that  a  change  is  going  on  in  Europe,  we 
may  find  ourselves  once  more  divided  by  that  eter 
nal  line  of  separation  that  leaves  on  the  one  side 
those  of  our  citizens  who  obey  the  impulses  of  sym 
pathy,  while  on  the  other  are  found  those  who 
submit  only  to  the  counsels  of  prudence.  Even 
prudence  will  soon  be  required  to  decide  whether 
distant  regions,  east  and  west,  shall  come  under  our 
own  protection,  or  be  left  to  aggrandize  a  rapidly 
spreading  domain  of  hostile  despotism." 

Out  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  nearly  midway  between 
America  and  Asia,  though  nearer  to  the  United 


OUR   EXPANDING  EMPIRE    ON   THE  PACIFIC.        2*]\ 

States,  is  a  group  of  twelve  islands.  They  form  an 
archipelago,  containing  a  land  area  of  about  seven 
thousand  square  miles,  or  nearly  as  large  as  New 
Jersey.  These  islands  have  a  lovely  climate  and 
fertile  soil,  and  are  rich  in  minerals.  The  whole 
group  is  volcanic,  and  some  of  them  with  the  largest 
craters  in  the  world  are  here  still  active.  Beside 
forests  and  much  timber,  there  are  about  two  mill 
ion  acres  of  grazing  land  and  two  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  acres  of  arable  soil,  with  plenty  of 
streams  flowing  down  from  the  mountains  to  the 
sea.  The  chief  object  of  culture  is  the  sugar-cane. 
On  forty  or  fifty  plantations  about  forty  thousand 
tons  of  sugar  are  produced  annually.  Many  other 
rich  products  are  exported.  Of  the  $35,000,000 
at  which  the  sugar  plantations  were  valued,  about 
$25,000,000  were  owned  by  Americans. 

The  Hawaiian  Islands  were  first  discovered  by 
a  Spanish  navigator  in  1542.  Captain  Cook,  the 
English  explorer,  made  them  better  known  by  his 
visit  in  1778,  and  by  his  death  there  in  1779.  There 
had  been  long  series  of  wars ;  but  the  people  had 
emerged  from  barbarism  and  a  feudal  system  was  in 
operation.  In  1790  Kamehameha  defeated  another 
chief  or  king,  and  after  several  years  of  hard  fight 
ing  became  master  of  the  archipelago.  He  was 
greatly  assisted  to  get  arms  and  supplies  by  the 
wealth  which  he  gained  in  selling  sandalwoo4  to 


272  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

the  American  and  Chinese  merchants.  By  and  by 
came  a  struggle  between  the  progressives,  who 
wished  to  overthrow  the  taboo  system,  which  put  so 
much  power  in  the  hands  of  the  pagan  priests,  and 
those  who  held  to  old  ways.  After  a  bloody  battle, 
lasting  six  hours,  the  conservatives  were  overthrown. 
Then  began  the  universal  destruction  of  idols. 
When  in  1820  the  first  missionaries,  fourteen  in 
number,  —  seven  men  with  their  wives,  —  arrived 
from  the  United  States,  the  modern  history  of 
Hawaii  began.  The  language  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  printing  flourished.  In  1825  the  Ten 
Commandments  were  adopted  as  the  basis  of  the 
national  laws.  In  1840,  Kamehameha  III  and 
the  chiefs  formed  a  constitution  which  gave  civil 
rights  to  the  people. 

Our  first  treaty  was  made  with  the  Hawaiian 
government  through  Captain  Catesby  Ap  Jones. 
Several  attempts  were  made  by  British  and  French 
to  seize  the  islands  and  hold  them,  but  they  were 
not  permanently  successful.  Meanwhile  American 
interests  were  increasing.  Usually  the  native  gov 
ernment  was  carried  on  intelligently  and  peacefully, 
though  there  was  a  riot  in  1874,  which  was  put 
down  by  armed  forces  from  the  British  and  the 
United  States  war  vessels  lying  at  Honolulu.  In 
1887  a  progressive  party  demanded  a  new  constitu 
tion,  which  King  Kalakaua  accepted.  Soon  after 


OUR   EXPANDING  EMPIRE  ON   THE  PACIFIC.         2?$ 

this  the  king  and  queen  and  Liliuokalani  visited 
Boston,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  and 
talking  with  both.  When  the  king  died,  Liliuoka 
lani  succeeded  to  the  throne  as  queen.  She  was 
thoroughly  opposed  to  the  new  constitution.  When 
after  she  had  defied  the  will  of  the  legislature  in  favor 
of  the  opium  and  baser  interests,  it  was  believed 
that  she  intended  to  proclaim  a  new  constitution, 
restoring  the  royal  power,  a  small  but  influential 
portion  of  the  citizens  rose  against  her  and  formed 
a  provisional  government. 

Our  American  minister  at  this  time  was  the 
Hon.  John  L.  Stevens.  He  was  a  pure  patriot,  a 
man  of  ability,  and  long  diplomatic  experience  in 
South  America  and  Scandinavia,  and  one  of  those 
accomplished  envoys  who  have  done  our  country 
honor  abroad.  He  knew  the  situation  well.  He 
felt  sure  that  if  the  baser  element  had  any  oppor 
tunity,  they  would  destroy  foreign  property  and 
begin  incendiarism.  From  the  United  States  man- 
of-war  Boston,  then  lying  in  the  harbor  at  Honolulu, 
he  ordered  a  party  of  marines  and  sailors  to  be 
landed  for  the  protection  of  American  life  and 
property. 

The  provisional  government  at  once  took  steps  to 
secure  the  favor  of  the  United  States.  Each  party, 
of  the  deposed  queen  and  of  the  government,  sent 
representatives  to  Washington.  President  Harri- 


2/4  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

son  warmly  approved  of  the  idea  of  annexation.  A 
treaty  making  Hawaii  part  of  the  United  States 
was  sent  to  the  Senate  for  ratification.  For  this 
the  new  Hawaiian  government  petitioned;  but  we 
had  then  no  national  policy  on  the  subject.  When 
President  Cleveland  came  into  power  he  withdrew 
the  treaty,  disapproved  of  the  action  of  Mr.  Stevens, 
and  sent  a  "  paramount "  agent  to  Honolulu  to 
secure  neutrality.  Nevertheless,  on  July  4,  1894, 
the  republic  of  Hawaii  was  proclaimed,  and  Sanford 
B.  Dole  became  President.  With  wisdom  and  abil 
ity  the  Hawaiian  republic  was  governed,  until,  in 
1898,  it  became  an  integral  part  of  the  United 
States.  Then  the  action  of  John  L.  Stevens  was 
vindicated. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

OUR    WAR    WITH    SPAIN. 

FOR  centuries  the  people  living  on  the  seacoast 
lands  of  western  Europe  imagined  that  there 
was  somewhere,  out  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  a  group 
of  islands  which  must  be  passed  before  the  conti 
nent,  still  further  on,  could  be  reached.  The  notion 
existed  that  during  the  invasion  of  the  Moors,  some 
Christian  bishops  and  their  flocks  had  fled  to  these 
islands  and  there  found  peace  and  prosperity. 
Gradually  the  legend  took  the  form  of  islands  ex 
quisitely  beautiful,  and  endlessly  rich  in  gold,  silver, 
pearls,  and  gems.  These  were  the  anti-insult  or 
Antilles,  that  is,  the  islands  before  you  came  to  the 
continent. 

In  1492  Columbus  discovered  Cuba  and  other 
West  India  Islands,  and  later  the  American  conti 
nent  was  made  known.  So  then,  here  were  the 
Antilles  —  a  name  applied  to  all  the  islands  in  the 
Gulf  and  adjacent  waters  except  the  Bahamas.  The 
Greater  Antilles  are  Cuba,  Hayti,  Jamaica,  and  Porto 
Rico,  with  the  islets  clustered  near  them.  The 
Lesser  Antilles,  or  Windward  Islands,  form  a  cres 
cent,  with  the  convex  side  toward  the  east. 

275 


276          THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

As  Cuba  was  the  first,  so  has  it  always  been  the 
chief  colony  of  Spain.  It  was  born  into  the  world 
through  volcanic  action,  and  the  Copper  Mountains 
traverse  its  whole  length,  the  highest  summit  being 
about  7750  feet  high.  Cuba  is  rich  in  almost  every 
thing  that  can  satisfy  the  wants  of  man,  and  by 
which  he  can  make  money,  such  as  sugar,  molasses, 
rum,  tobacco,  coffee,  fruit,  wax,  copper,  metals,  and 
minerals,  the  useful  and  precious  woods,  with  al 
most  every  sort  of  food,  and  pastures  for  great  herds 
of  cattle. 

Although  the  rivers  are  all  small  and  not  navi 
gable,  there  are  good  harbors,  with  deep  water,  at 
Havana,  Matanzas,  Puerto  Principe,  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  and  other  places.  Under  good  government 
this  island  ought  to  be  the  pearl  of  all  on  earth ;  yet 
its  history  is  one  of  human  wretchedness.  One 
contrasts  it  at  once  with  another  typical  island, 
Java,  of  same  size  and  with  a  similar  climate,  but 
Java  has  a  much  larger  and  happier  population  and 
vastly  more  wealth,  while  the  government  of  its 
eleven  millions  is  so  good  that  little  is  heard  of  it. 
Java  is  happy  to  have  had  no  history  like  that  of 
Cuba. 

The  first  Spaniards  who  colonized  Cuba,  in  1511, 
treated  the  natives  so  cruelly  that  in  forty-two  years 
the  Indian  population  had  become  extinct.  Cuba 
was  the  centre  of  the  slave  trade  in  Spanish  Amer- 


OUR    WAR    WITH  SPAIN. 

ica,  and  during  the  height  of  its  activity,  from  1 789 
to  1845,  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  slaves  were 
brought  into  the  island.  The  negroes  rose  up 
against  their  masters  in  1844-1848,  but  their  upris 
ings  were  put  down  with  awful  slaughter,  about  ten 
thousand  suffering  death  in  1848.  The  whole  story 
of  the  island  is  one  of  turmoil  and  bad  government. 

It  was  thought,  even  early  in  this  century,  that 
the  United  States  must  possess  Cuba  for  the  sake 
of  self-defence.  Our  commerce  was  disturbed  by 
misrule  and  periodical  anarchy.  Havana  was  the 
hotbed  of  yellow  fever,  which  desolated  our  cities. 
The  utter  lack  of  drainage  and  sanitary  system, 
with  the  accumulated  filth  in  the  Spanish  towns, 
formed  the  soil  for  the  growth  of  pestilence  from 
which  our  country  suffered.  The  vultures,  nature's 
scavengers  and  living  crucibles,  abound  in  Spanish- 
American  towns. 

During  President  Folk's  administration  a  strong 
pressure  was  put  upon  our  government,  mainly  from 
the  South,  to  obtain  "the  Pearl  of  the  Antilles." 
A  hundred  millions  of  dollars  were  offered  for 
Cuba  in  1848,  but  refused.  In  the  insurrections 
which  followed,  the  influence  of  American  adven 
turers  was  noticeable.  When  the  revolution  broke 
out  in  Spain,  in  1868,  the  Cubans  tried  again  to 
win  their  independence.  War  began,  which  lasted 
twelve  years.  During  this  time,  in  1873,  the 


278  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

steamer  Virginius,  with  about  fifty  Americans  on 
board  to  assist  the  Cuban  insurgents,  led  by  General 
Cespedes,  was  captured  by  the  Spanish  man-of-war 
Tornado.  All  of  the  volunteers  were  put  to  death, 
under  circumstances  of  such  wanton  cruelty  that 
the  moral  sense  of  the  American  people  was  out 
raged,  and  it  was  felt  that  nothing  similar  would 
ever  be  allowed  again.  The  losses  and  devastations 
on  both  sides  were  awful;  but  in  1880  the  hopes  of 
the  patriots  were  blasted,  for  the  Spaniards  had 
crushed  the  uprising.  Yet  the  island  was  left  in 
disorder,  and  the  public  debt  amounted  to  $85,- 
000,000. 

In  1895  a  new  insurrection  broke  out,  and  the 
Cuban  republic  was  organized.  Its  flag,  of  blue 
and  white  stripes,  had  a  white  star  set  on  a  red 
triangular  ground. 

To  put  down  this  fresh  uprising,  and  that  in  the 
Philippines  which  soon  followed,  Spain  put  forth 
all  her  resources,  poured  corps  after  corps,  even  to 
her  full  military  strength,  into  the  island.  She  sent 
her  very  best  soldiers,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  her 
ablest  young  men,  until  her  army  in  Cuba  num 
bered  over  a  hundred  thousand.  The  patriots 
could  gather  only  a  few  hundred  men  at  a  time  for 
skirmishes,  ambuscades,  dashing  raids,  or  cavalry 
charges  on  detached  bodies  of  the  enemy.  Yet 
the  Spaniards  died  by  the  thousands.  While  bul- 


OUR    WAR    WITH  SPAIN.  2/9 

lets  and  the  machete  killed  hundreds,  disease  car 
ried  off  tens  of  thousands.  When  Marshal  Campos 
was  recalled  for  lack  of  energy,  General  Weyler, 
who  had  been  in  the  Philippines,  was  sent  to  Cuba. 
He  was  a  soldier  of  the  type  of  the  Duke  of  Alva. 
He  began  war  in  an  uncivilized  and  mediaeval  way. 
Indeed,  he  reminded  one  of  an  Assyrian  conqueror 
and  the  unspeakable  brutality  of  war  in  early  ages. 
His  policy  was  to  slaughter  and  burn  wherever  his 
soldiers  could  go.  He  compelled  the  pacificos,  or 
quiet  people  of  the  disturbed  districts,  to  leave  their 
homes  and  farms  and  to  be  reconcentrated  upon 
reservations.  There,  without  food  or  means  of  sup 
port,  they  died  of  disease  and  starvation  by  the  tens 
of  thousands. 

Meanwhile,  with  our  Cuban  commerce  ruined  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  reconcentrados  exciting  sym 
pathy  and  indignation  throughout  the  United 
States,  our  government  put  pressure  upon  Spain 
to  recognize  the  independence  of  Cuba.  It  had 
come  to  be  a  very  costly  matter  for  our  government 
to  keep  watch,  to  prevent  relief  ships  from  sailing 
for  Cuba,  and  to  maintain  neutrality,  when  so  many 
thousands  of  our  young  men  wanted  to  help  the 
insurgents.  The  Spanish  government  recalled 
Weyler  and  sent  Marshal  Blanco.  For  a  while  a 
profession  was  made  of  giving  the  Cubans  some 
thing  like  self-government. 


280  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

Meanwhile  the  insurgents  of  the  Philippine  Isl 
ands  were  making  progress  against  their  oppressors. 
Even  the  Spanish  army  of  twenty  thousand  men 
sent  there  could  make  little  headway.  Not  know 
ing  what  complications  might  ensue  in  the  Far  East, 
our  government  reenforced  the  Asiatic  squadron. 
Our  old  wooden  vessels,  except  the  historic  Monoc- 
acy,  had  been  brought  home.  A  fine  new  fleet  of 
modern  steel  ships  floated  the  American  flag  in  the 
Pacific.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1898,  Commodore 
George  Dewey  hoisted  his  pennant  on  board  the 
flagship  Olympia. 

When  the  wonderful  year  of  1898,  so  crowded 
with  decisive  and  significant  events  all  over  the 
world,  dawned,  it  showed  that  the  Spaniards  in 
Havana  were  resenting  the  American  indignation 
against  Spanish  cruelties.  The  lives  of  Americans, 
and  even  of  Consul  General  Lee  (son  of  the  great 
Confederate  general),  were  threatened.  The  United 
States  notified  Spain  that  a  ship  of  war,  the  Maine, 
would  be  sent  on  a  friendly  visit  to  Cuba.  A  recip 
rocal  courtesy  was  shown  by  the  despatch  of  the 
Spanish  armored  cruiser  Viscaya  to  the  harbor  of 
New  York.  During  this  vessel's  stay  in  our  waters, 
extraordinary  precautions  were  taken  by  our  na 
tional,  state,  and  municipal  authorities  to  prevent 
any  injury  or  hostile  action  by  irresponsible  persons. 
Meanwhile  the  American  public  opinion  was  still 


OUR    WAR    WITH  SPAIN.  28 1 

further  inflamed  by  two  episodes.  One  was  the 
exposure  of  a  letter  to  a  friend  from  the  Spanish 
minister  at  Washington,  in  which  he  abused  and 
slandered  President  McKinley.  The  other  was  a 
request  from  the  Spanish  government  for  the  recall 
of  Consul  General  Lee,  which  was  refused. 

While  all  the  elements  of  a  volcanic  explosion  of 
public  feeling  were  thus  at  hand,  telegrams  from 
Havana,  on  the  night  of  February  15,  1898,  sent  a 
wave  of  horror  and  indignation  over  the  country. 
It  was  like  a  great  oceanic  movement,  almost 
certain  to  overwhelm  all  barriers  and  force  war. 
The  Maine  was  a  second-class  battle-ship  in  com 
mand  of  Captain  Sigsbee.  On  arriving,  she  was 
led  and  placed  at  her  anchorage  by  Spanish  officers 
of  the  port.  About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  a 
terrible  submarine  eruption  turned  a  magnificent 
ship  into  a  mass  of  scrap  metal,  and  blew  259  of  her 
officers  and  crew  into  eternity.  For  four  weeks 
the  people  waited  for  the  verdict  from  the  board  of 
inquiry.  A  unanimous  decision  was  reached  on 
March  21,  that  the  ship  was  destroyed  by  the  ex 
plosion  of  a  submarine  mine,  or,  in  other  words, 
as  the  people  interpreted,  by  Spanish  treachery. 

By  this  time  the  war  fever  had  reached  the  boiling 
point.  As  our  harbors  were  practically  defence 
less,  Congress  voted  unanimously  $50,000,000  for 
national  defence.  Immediately  there  began  in 


282  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

the  War  and  Navy  Departments  tremendous  activ 
ity.  Competent  agents  were  sent  to  Europe,  and 
materials  and  ships  were  bought  at  home  and 
abroad.  Our  harbors  were  mined,  and  most  of  the 
lights  on  the  coast  were  extinguished.  Property 
at  watering  places  depreciated,  and  thousands  of 
Americans,  who  had  expected  to  spend  their 
summer  vacation  in  Europe,  changed  their  plans. 
Every  one  saw  that  war  was  coming,  and  that  this 
time  our  government  would  not  allow  the  old  state 
of  things  in  Cuba  to  go  on.  President  McKinley 
endeavored  to  avert  war  and  advised  the  non-recog 
nition  of  the  so-called  Cuban  republic.  General  Lee 
remained  in  Havana  till  April  10,  bravely  super 
intending  the  removal  of  the  American  refugees. 

On  the  1 8th  of  April,  by  joint  resolution  of 
Congress,  war  was  declared,  the  President  signing 
the  document  April  20.  Yet  our  minister  at  Madrid, 
General  Stuart  L.  Woodford,  was  not  allowed  to 
present  the  American  ultimatum  to  Spain,  for  at 
seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  21  he  re 
ceived  his  passports  from  the  Spanish  minister. 
This  constituted  the  actual  beginning  of  war. 

President  McKinley  proclaimed  the  blockade  of 
the  coast  of  Cuba  on  April  21,  and  two  days  later 
issued  a  call  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou 
sand  volunteers.  The  regular  army  was  concen 
trated  at  Chickamauga,  and  soon  our  brave  veterans 


OUR    WAR    WITH  SPAIN.  283 

were  "  tenting  on  the  old  camp  ground,"  amid  the 
inspiring  scenery  and  memories  of  the  great  battle 
in  which  General  Thomas  had  won  his  title  of  "  the 
Rock."  At  Tampa,  a  bustling  city  in  Florida,  where, 
over  three  centuries  ago,  the  Spaniards  landed  with 
bloodhounds  and  manacles  for  enslaving  the  Ind 
ians,  a  great  camp  was  laid  out  for  the  concentra 
tion  and  acclimatizing  of  our  troops. 

Now,  for  the  first  time  in  American  history,  the 
United  States,  by  act  of  the  chief  executive,  gave 
up  privateering  as  a  relic  of  barbarism.  In  a  clear 
and  strong  state  paper  President  Me Kinley  adhered 
to  the  Declaration  of  Paris,  while  Congress  passed 
a  bill  to  provide  war  revenue.  Soon  the  stamps  on 
bank  checks,  express  receipts,  business  documents, 
telegrams,  and  various  articles  bought  and  sold, 
reminded  one  of  the  war  days  of  1861.  Business 
went  on  as  usual.  Indeed,  during  this  year,  1898, 
the  volume  of  traffic,  domestic  and  foreign,  done, 
exceeded  that  of  any  year  previously  known ;  yet 
the  expenditures  of  the  government  were  very 
great 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE    AMERICAN    FLAG    IX    THE    PHILIPPINES. 

AGAIN,  in  1898,  as  always  in  our  history  before, 
it  was  to  be  demonstrated  that,  opportunity 
given,  the  navy  excels  the  army,  for  the  one  good  rea 
son  that  the  navy  consists  of  a  body  of  trained  pro 
fessional  men,  who  know  their  duties  thoroughly, 
and  is  free  from  the  withering  influences  of  sectional 
and  party  politics.  It  is  an  ever  efficient  national 
arm  of  defence.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  great  war, 
regular  and  amateur  soldiers  are  mixed  together, 
and  the  true  army,  unlike  the  navy,  is  not  allowed 
to  show  what  it  can  do  by  itself.  The  organization 
of  the  volunteer  forces  is  honeycombed  with  favor 
itism,  partisan  politics,  and  a  thousand  other  influ 
ences  which  destroy  the  efficiency  of  a  noble  body 
of  men,  whose  energies  are  wasted,  and  whose  aims 
are  often  defeated,  by  moral  diseases  from  which  the 
navy  is  free. 

The  navy  was  instantly  ready  and  efficient.  Of 
the  four  officers  called  to  lead  and  strike  at  once,  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  three,  their  records 
and  abilities  and  personal  qualities.  Having  also 
a  somewhat  close  acquaintance  with  the  history  and 

284 


THE  AMERICAN  FLAG   IN   THE  PHILIPPINES.        285 

status  of  the  navy,  by  examination  of  the  records 
and  acquaintance  with  the  ships,  I  had  no  anxiety, 
from  the  first,  for  this  branch  of  the  service.  I 
knew  Captain  Sampson  as  an  expert  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  modern  naval  artillery.  He  had 
long  been  in  chief  charge  of  the  practice  grounds  at 
Indian  Head.  In  the  Naval  Observatory  at  Wash 
ington,  \vhere  I  first  met  him  among  the  chronome 
ters,  micronometers,  and  all  the  delicate  instruments 
for  measuring  time  and  space,  he  struck  me  as  one 
of  the  most  accomplished  men  I  had  ever  seen.  Not 
because  his  ordinary  rank  would  entitle  him,  but  be 
cause  of  his  consummate  abilities,  and  to  the  great 
delight  of  the  whole  navy,  he  was  chosen  to  command 
the  fleet,  which  sailed  April  22  from  Key  West  to 
begin  the  blockade  of  the  Cuban  ports. 

Commodore  Winfield  Scott  Schley  \vas  given  com 
mand  of  the  Flying  Squadron,  which  made  rendez 
vous  at  Hampton  Roads  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  I 
had  known  him  in  Japan,  and  of  his  shining  record 
in  the  Korean  war,  where  he  led  the  land  expedi 
tion  which  destroyed  the  Han  forts  in  1871.  Bold, 
alert,  and  dashing,  Schley  waited  for  Admiral  Cer- 
vera,  who,  with  the  armored  cruisers  Viscaya,  Oquendo, 
Christobal  Colon,  Maria  Teresa,  and  three  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers,  made  rendezvous  at  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands.  For  many  days  the  whole  American  coast 
was  in  suspense.  All  asked  kk  Whence  ?  whither  ? 


286  THE  ROMANCE   OF  CONQUEST. 

when?"  but  none  could  answer.  Our  swift  cruisers, 
one  of  the  best  being  the  Cincinnati  under  Captain 
Chester,  and  many  fast  despatch  boats,  patrolled  the 
coast  from  Eastport  to  Point  Isabel.  Yet  nothing 
was  heard  of  Cervera  until  he  appeared  off  Marti 
nique  in  the  West  Indies. 

It  was  wisely  thought  best  to  be  thoroughly  pre 
pared  for  the  whole  Spanish  fleet,  and  so  word  had 
been  early  sent  to  the  captain  of  the  battle-ship 
Oregon  on  the  Pacific  coast  to  come  eastward.  To 
make  this  journey  round  Cape  Horn,  would  be  a 
superb  test  of  the  quality,  speed,  and  efficiency  of 
American-built  battle-ships.  For  years  we  had  heard 
criticisms  and  objections  about  the  foolishness  of 
building  a  navy  of  the  modern  type.  The  objectors 
supposed  that  we  had  neither  the  workmen  to  plan 
and  build,  nor  men  to  man  and  control  modern 
battle-ships,  and  that  such  enterprise  must  be  left  to 
Great  Britain  because  of  her  longer  naval  history, 
and  whose  admirals  and  sailors  had  more  naval  ex 
perience.  These  were  not  the  objections  of  Eu 
ropeans,  but  of  Americans.  It  was  somewhat 
different  from  the  idea  of  the  young  lady  who,  visit 
ing  a  modern  British  man-of-war  when  the  stars  and 
stripes  floated  over  wooden  ships  only,  was  told  by 
the  captain  that  in  another  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  the  former  would 
surely  win.  Her  only  reply  was  "  What,  again?" 


THE  AMERICAN  FLAG  IN   THE  PHILIPPINES.        28? 

In  sixty-eight  days,  at  every  moment  ready  for  the 
enemy,  the  Oregon  made  her  journey  of  fourteen 
thousand  miles  from  Puget  Sound  to  Key  West, 
arriving  without  a  screw  loose  or  a  bolt  started,  at 
Key  West. 

Captain  J.  C.  Watson  was  another  officer  who, 
when  younger,  had,  like  Schley,  served  under  Far- 
ragut.  I  had  known  him  in  the  waters  of  Japan,  where 
he  was  in  command  of  the  Idaho  at  Yokohama.  To 
me  he  impersonated  the  idea  of  discipline  —  whether 
against  unjust  superiors,  mutinous  crews  or  desert 
ers,  or  fascinating  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  for  fun 
or  pleasure  would  have  relaxed  the  rules  which  are 
the  very  soul  of  the  service. 

Another  young  officer,  with  whose  record  and 
abilities  I  was  well  acquainted,  was  Captain  John 
Bernadou,  who  had  shown  great  courage  and  cool 
ness  in  Korea. 

While  anxiety  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  Cervera's 
fleet  was  exercising  the  minds  of  our  people,  excit 
ing  news  came  by  way  of  Spain  from  the  other  end 
of  the  earth.  It  was  that  Commodore  Dewey  had 
attacked  the  fleet  under  Admiral  Montojo,  and  after 
sinking  some  ships  had  ceased  operations  to  land 
his  wounded.  During  several  days  of  suspense,  it 
was  uncertain  as  to  how  far  successful  he  had  been. 

Soon  the  full  story  came  in.  The  nation  was 
thrilled  with  delight.  Smiles  broke  out  on  every  face. 


288  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

During  a  month  or  so,  puns  upon  the  Commodore's 
name  were  wrought,  with  various  degrees  of  wit  and 
vileness.  Congress  gave  him  thanks,  made  him  an 
Admiral,  and  voted  him  a  sword. 

On  receiving  orders  to  seek  out  and  destroy  the 
Spanish  fleet,  Admiral  Dewey  proceeded  to  Cavite 
Bay.  At  5.41  A.M.,  on  May  i,  the  word  from  the 
Commodore  was,  "  You  may  fire  when  you  are 
ready,  Captain  Gridley."  At  once  the  battle  began. 
Our  ships  made  five  courses,  sinking  or  setting  fire 
to  three  Spanish  ships.  At  7.35,  Dewey's  supply 
of  ammunition  having  been  heavily  drawn  on,  and 
the  effect  of  our  fire  on  the  Spaniards  being  uncer 
tain,  "  the  crews  left  their  guns  and  went  to  break 
fast."  When  this  meal  was  over,  the  signal  "  close 
for  action  "  was  hoisted,  and  the  work  of  destruction 
was  continued,  the  whole  Spanish  fleet  of  fourteen 
war  vessels  being  sunk  or  destroyed.  Not  a  man 
on  the  American  side  was  killed,  and  but  seven 
were  wounded.  It  was,  what  in  ancient  times 
would  have  been  called,  a  miracle. 

This  victory  was  the  beginning  of  American  ex 
pansion  and  possessions  in  the  Pacific,  and  of  suc 
cessful  diplomacy  with  the  Turks.  Major-General 
Wesley  Merritt  was  sent  out  with  an  army  of  about 
twelve  thousand  men.  Under  Generals  Anderson 
and  Greene,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  insurgents,  they 
invested  the  city  of  Manila.  During  the  withdrawal 


THE  AMERICAN  FLAG  IN    THE  PHILIPPINES.        289 

of  Aguinaldo  and  his  men,  to  celebrate  some  festi 
val  on  the  night  of  July  31,  the  Spaniards  made  an 
attack  upon  our  lines,  and  for  a  while  demoralized 
the  volunteers,  until  the  regulars  came  to  their  aid 
and  drove  the  Spaniards  back.  At  noon,  on  the 
afternoon  of  August  18,  after  an  attack  by  sea  and 
land,  the  city  capitulated.  Soon  after  this  the  Amer 
ican  force  in  Luzon  numbered  twenty  thousand 
men. 

The  Philippines  are  the  gateway  to  China,  and 
open  the  door  to  an  enormous  trade  and  a  perma 
nent  market.  On  the  way  out  from  San  Francisco, 
our  officers  took  possession  of  the  Ladrone  Islands 
and  hoisted  the  American  flag.  On  the  ythof  July, 
1898,  Congress,  by  joint  resolution,  annexed  the 
republic  of  Hawaii.  The  ceremony  was  simply  but 
impressively  accomplished  on  the  i2th  of  August. 
The  action  of  our  minister,  John  L.  Stevens,  in 
1891,  in  raising  the  American  flag  and  landing 
the  marines  at  Honolulu,  from  the  man-of-war  Bos 
ton,  to  protect  American  life  and  property,  was  thus 
vindicated.  A  commission  of  five  statesmen  was 
appointed  to  recommend  to  Congress  such  legis 
lation  concerning  the  Hawaiian  Islands  as  they 
should  deem  necessary  and  proper. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

SANTIAGO    AND    PORTO    RICO. 

TO  return  to  the  Atlantic,  Cervera  compelled  by 
need  of  water  and  provisions  entered  "  without 
incident,"  as  his  telegram  told,  the  harbor  of  Santi 
ago  at  the  eastern  end  of  Cuba,  where  a  long  stretch 
of  coast  had  been  left  unblockaded.  The  two  squad 
rons  of  Schley  and  Sampson  now  united  off  the 
entrance,  and  Cervera  was  "bottled  up."  Yet  our 
navy  could  not  follow  into  the  harbor  on  account  of 
submarine  mines.  Bombardment  without  much 
effect  was  made  upon  the  forts  on  May  31,  showing 
clearly  that  a  land  force  would  be  necessary  to  take 
the  city.  The  neck  of  Santiago  harbor  being  like 
that  of  a  bottle,  a  design  was  formed  not  only  to  put 
in  a  cork,  but  to  wire  it  fast,  so  that  the  Spanish 
squadron  could  not  get  out.  As  storms  might  dis 
perse  our  fleet  and  give  Cervera  an  opportunity  to 
slip  out,  Constructor  R.  P.  Hobson  with  seven  men 
volunteered  to  take  in  by  night  the  steam  collier 
Merrimac,  and  sink  her  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
channel  and  thus  block  it.  In  the  face  of  the  fire 
from  the  Spanish  batteries,  this  was  done  on  the 

290 


SANTIAGO  AND   PORTO   RICO.  29 1 

night  of  June  3.  Yet  after  all  the  enterprise  was  a 
moral,  but  not  a  material,  success,  for  a  well-aimed 
shot  struck  the  rudder  of  the  Merrimac,  rendering  it 
helpless.  When  the  hulk  was  scuttled  and  sunk, 
there  was  room  for  the  whole  fleet  to  pass  when 
Cervera  should  think  best.  Hobson  and  his  men, 
captured  or  rescued,  were  kindly  treated  by  the 
Spaniards. 

The  commander  of  the  army  of  fifteen  thousand 
troops  sent  from  Tampa  to  Santiago  was  Major- 
General  W.  R.  Shafter.  This  officer  having  won 
a  brilliant  record  during  the  Civil  War,  had  also 
made  a  grand  success  of  the  army  schools  for  the 
education  of  enlisted  men.  When  it  was  objected 
that  negroes  would  not,  and  could  not,  make  good 
soldiers  because  they  were  illiterate,  Shafter  intro 
duced  schoolmasters.  In  four  months,  by  constant 
drill  and  discipline,  he  had  made  his  regiment 
of  black  men  the  crack  organization  of  the  army. 
Later  he  had  the  reputation  of  having  a  regiment 
fully  up  to  the  German  standard  of  efficiency. 

A  century  and  a  half  ago,  the  British  army  under 
Admiral  Vernon  landed  at  Guantanamo  in  Cuba. 
In  this  expedition  Lawrence  Washington  and 
Jacob  van  Braam,  the  one  the  elder  brother  and 
the  other  the  military  instructor  of  George  Wash 
ington,  served  with  the  Virginia  militia.  In  1898 
our  marines  landed  here  and  held  the  town  and 


THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

adjacent  country.  The  Spanish  sharpshooters  ap 
proached  the  post,  while  most  of  our  men  were 
enjoying  a  sea-bath. 

They  had  smokeless  powder,  and  were  covered 
with  leaves  and  greenery,  so  that  they  could  not 
be  easily  detected.  Indeed,  our  marines  who  rushed 
to  their  guns  had  hard  work  to  know  what  to  shoot 
at.  Throughout  the  war  our  men  were  at  constant 
disadvantage,  because  they  had  only  the  old-fashioned 
black  or  brown  powder,  while  that  used  in  the 
Mauser  rifle  cartridges  of  the  Spaniards  made  no 
smoke.  It  was  often,  very  often,  difficult  on  our 
side  to  find  where  the  enemy  was.  In  this  affair 
Dr.  Gibbs,  the  first  officer  lost  in  the  war,  was 
killed. 

On  June  22  the  army  was  disembarked  at  Dai 
quiri,  and  by  sunset  of  the  next  day,  or  rather  the 
24th,  the  troops  were  all  ashore.  Our  men  began 
immediately  marching  forward.  When  our  allies, 
"  the  army  of  the  Cuban  republic,"  appeared,  there 
were  detachments  of  tens,  which,  when  all  assembled, 
amounted  to  hundreds  rather  than  thousands. 

On  the  road  to  Santiago,  about  three  miles  from 
Siboney,  was  a  strong  position  called  Las  Guasimas, 
where  the  Spaniards  lay  waiting  for  the  Americans. 
Young's  brigade  and  the  dismounted  volunteer 
cavalry,  called  the  "  Rough  Riders,"  expecting  no 
enemy  near,  were  taken  by  surprise,  and  at  first 


SANTIAGO  AND  PORTO  RICO.  2Q3 

thrown  into  some  disorder.  Quickly  recovering, 
they  boldly  charged  and  drove  the  enemy  out  of 
their  position.  Then  our  troops  moved  forward  to 
attack  the  village  of  El  Caney,  but  before  this  the 
hills  and  San  Juan  hills  and  blockhouses  were  to 
be  carried.  Sixteen  light  field-pieces,  with  infantry 
to  support  them,  were  sent  forward. 

At  six  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  July  i,  the 
battle  opened  and  soon  became  general.  Though 
the  Spaniards  fought  bravely  and  with  obstinacy, 
they  could  not  stand  against  the  energy  of  our 
regulars.  To  complete  their  formation  for  a  charge 
up  the  hill  at  San  Juan,  our  men  had  to  endure  a 
very  destructive  fire.  Then,  after  going  a  short 
distance,  they  found  a  great  tangle-work  made  of 
barbed  iron  wire.  Yet  despite  all  obstacles,  they 
drove  the  enemy  from  their  position  and  held  what 
they  gained. 

As  the  Spanish  general  Tando  was  advancing 
with  reinforcements  of  eight  thousand  men,  it  was 
necessary  to  continue  the  struggle  next  day  and 
gain  a  decisive  victory  before  the  Spanish  forces 
could  be  strengthened.  On  the  morning  of  July  2 
the  Spaniards  began  by  a  fierce  assault,  but  while 
our  forces  under  Kent  and  Wheeler  drove  back 
assaulting  forces,  General  Lawton  gained  a  com 
manding  position  on  the  right,  making  victory  the 
following  day  nearly  certain.  The  fighting  was 


294  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

renewed  July  3,  but  the  enemy  soon  gave  way  and 
the  firing  ceased.  Our  men  had  lost  230  killed  and 
1284  wounded  in  the  three  days'  fighting,  and  79 
were  missing.  The  Spaniards  had  lost  1500  men 
killed  and  wounded. 

As  early  as  half-past  eight  General  Shafter  sent 
a  flag  of  truce.  He  demanded  of  the  Spanish  com 
mander  the  surrender  of  his  army  and  of  the  city 
of  Santiago.  This  was  not  acceded  to,  and  yet 
there  was  evidence  of  a  willingness  to  negotiate ; 
for  while  reinforcements  for  our  army  were  on 
their  way,  the  Spaniards  had  little  hope  of  being 
reenforced.  Furthermore,  they  had  lost  their  fleet. 
On  Sunday  morning,  July  3,  Admiral  Cervera, 
under  orders  from  Captain-General  Blanco,  know 
ing  also  that  he  would  lose  his  ships  when  the  city 
surrendered,  and  that  while  the  channel  was  open 
he  had  a  chance  of  success,  moved  out  with  his 
squadron  of  four  Spanish  armored  cruisers  and 
two  torpedo  boats,  in  single  column.  He  then 
turned  to  the  right,  hoping,  possibly,  to  destroy 
the  United  States  steamship  Brooklyn,  and  to 
save  some  of  his  fleet. 

The  Americans  were  not  caught  napping.  Every 
thing  had  been  arranged  and  foreseen  by  Sampson, 
and  Schley  was  ready.  Signalling  to  all  the  ships 
to  close  and  pursue,  the  most  terrific  naval  cannon 
ade  known  in  modern  time  opened  upon  the  Span- 


SANTIAGO  AND  PORTO  RICO.  295 

ish  ships.  Within  two  hours  after  the  opening 
gun  seven  thousand  shot,  weighing  one  thousand 
tons,  had  been  fired,  every  Spanish  ship  was  sunk, 
and  six  hundred  men  were  killed  or  drowned,  and 
nearly  two  thousand  captured.  On  our  side  only 
one  man  was  killed,  and  one  wounded.  This 
splendid  triumph  of  the  American  navy  practically 
ended  the  war.  On  July  17  the  city  and  province 
of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  with  over  twenty-two  thousand 
soldiers,  was  surrendered. 

It  was  the  splendid  qualities  of  the  American 
private  soldiers,  especially  of  the  regulars,  that  won 
at  Santiago.  It  was  the  superb  discipline  and  in 
vincible  powder  of  the  navy  that  destroyed  the  two 
Spanish  fleets  in  the  East  and  the  West  Indies. 

A  very  foolish  controversy  broke  out  in  the  news 
papers  concerning  the  relative  merits,  and  the 
amount  of  praise  and  credit,  due  to  Commodores 
Sampson  and  Schley,  in  the  naval  triumph  at  San 
tiago.  To  tell  the  simple  truth,  both  did  their  duty 
fully  and  nobly.  In  answer  to  words  of  congratu 
lation  from  an  old  friend,  Commodore  Schley,  as 
modest  as  gallant,  wrote  the  following :  — 

"  FLAGSHIP  BROOKLYN,  Guantanamo  Bay,  Cuba, 
July  3 1,  1898. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR: — Thanks  for  your  kind  letter; 
I  do  not  think  that  I  deserve  so  much  as  has  been 
said  in  my  praise  for  the  victory  of  July  3 ;  I 


2Q6  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

share  its  honors  only  with  my  brave  comrades,  and 
I  have  not  forgotten  that  there  is  a  God  of  battles, 
for  he  was  surely  on  our  side  that  day,  blessed  be 
his  Holy  Name ! 

Thanking  you  again  for  thinking  of  me,  I  am, 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

W.    S.    SCHLEY. 
REV.  WM.  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS,  Ithaca,  N.Y." 

Porto  Rico  was  easily  taken  through  the  military 
science  and  fine  art  of  General  Miles.  The  Span 
iards  expected  that  the  Americans  would  land  near 
San  Juan,  but  the  General  directed  the  navy  to 
shell  the  town  of  Ponce,  while  other  war-ships  were 
active  near  San  Juan.  On  July  25  he  disembarked 
his  troops  at  Guanica  near  Ponce.  In  several 
spirited  engagements  the  Spaniards  were  driven 
back  with  slight  loss  on  our  side.  Already  the 
larger  part  of  the  island  was  under  our  control  and 
certain  to  be  wholly  taken,  when  the  decisive  com 
bat,  for  which  all  preparations  were  made,  should 
take  place,  when  news  arrived  that  the  protocol  of 
peace  had  been  signed  and  hostilities  were  imme 
diately  suspended. 

Admiral  Camara  had  sailed  from  Cadiz  June  15, 
and  passed  through  the  Suez  Canal  with  the  sup 
posed  idea  of  going  to  Manila.  As  this  move  left 
the  coast  of  Spain  exposed,  the  Eastern  Squadron, 


SANTIAGO  AND  PORTO  RICO.  297 

under  Commander  J.  C.  Watson,  was  got  in  readi 
ness  to  make  a  descent  upon  Spanish  Europe  in 
order  to  hasten  peace.  However,  on  July  26,  the 
French  ambassador  in  Washington,  acting  for  the 
government  at  Madrid,  made  proposals  to  President 
McKinley  for  peace.  The  terflis  of  our  government 
being  accepted,  on  August  9,  the  protocol  was  made 
and  signed  August  12.  The  peace  commission  met 
in  Paris,  October  i,  and  the  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed  December  10. 

Our  country  paid  the  expenses  of  repatriating 
the  remnants  of  the  Spanish  army,  out  of  which 
about  eighty  thousand  had  died  in  Cuba,  mainly 
through  disease.  The  evacuation  proceeded  during 
December,  while  in  the  Spanish  cities  held  by  our 
troops  the  work  of  civil  government  and  reform, 
especially  the  cleaning  of  streets,  the  removal  of 
dirt  and  filth,  and  the  beginning  of  sanitary  reform, 
proceeded.  On  the  -ist  of  January,  1899,  the 
American  flag  was  hoisted  over  the  public  build 
ings  in  Havana,  and  Spanish  rule  in  America, 
after  four  centuries  of  blight,  was  over. 

Porto  Rico  was  definitely  ceded  to  the  United 
States.  It  was  completely  evacuated  by  October  1 7. 
The  next  day  the  flag  of  the  United  States  rose  in 
the  air  over  the  public  buildings  at  San  Juan.  Our 
letters  were  henceforward  directed  to  Porto  Rico, 
U.  S.  A.  October  18  is  a  red-letter  day  in  the 


298  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

story  of  American  expansion.  On  that  date,  in 
1867,  Russia  formally  transferred  Alaska  to  our 
flag.  In  1804,  on  October  18,  the  Senate  took  up 
in  executive  session  the  treaty  with  France  that 
added  1,200,000  square  miles  to  our  national 
domain.  • 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  GREATER  UNITED  STATES. 

WE  pen  the  conclusion  of  our  story  of  American 
Expansion  on  this  day,  April  12,  1899,  when, 
war  with  Spain  ended,  the  treaty  documents  duly 
attested  and  exchanged,  and  the  President's  procla 
mation  of  peace  issued,  relations  of  friendship  are 
resumed. 

Our  countrymen  have  begun  in  earnest  to  grapple 
with  their  responsibilities  in  the  West  Indies.  In 
Porto  Rico,  which  is  about  half  as  large  as  New 
Jersey  and  one  of  the  most  thickly  populated  regions 
in  the  world,  having  nearly  one  million  inhabitants, 
special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  reform  of 
popular  education.  The  pioneers  of  our  commer 
cial,  benevolent,  and  missionary  societies  are  upon 
the  ground.  In  point  of  privilege,  and  probably  in 
general  intelligence,  the  people  of  Porto  Rico  may 
soon  be  on  a  level  with  the  average  in  the  United 
States. 

In  Cuba  the  transfer  of  authority  was  made  Janu 
ary  i,  1899.  The  difference  between  the  American 
and  the  Spanish  regime  is  strikingly  manifest  in 

299 


300          THE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST. 

government,  sanitation,  the  general  order  that  pre 
vails,  and  the  revival  of  business,  though  years  will 
be  required  for  removing  the  scars  of  war  and  the 
building  up  of  the  waste  places.  Beside  our  army 
of  occupation,  the  police  force  of  the  cities  has  been 
reorganized  on  American  models.  The  policy  of 
the  United  States  government  is  to  employ  as  many 
as  possible  of  the  natives  of  the  island  of  Cuba,  and 
to  so  develop  the  island's  resources  and  renovate 
the  whole  life  of  the  people  that  the  sincere  pur 
pose  of  our  nation  in  delivering  Cuba  from  her  op 
pressors  may  be  manifest  to  the  world. 

Beside  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  the  former  coming 
under  our  control  and  the  latter  under  our  owner 
ship  by  treaty,  a  number  of  smaller  islands,  reefs, 
and  keys  in  the  West  Indies  are  under  the  Ameri 
can  flag  and  are  bonded,  that  is,  their  ownership  is 
declared  in  the  United  States  Treasury. 

We  turn  now  to  the  East.  Surprised  and  electri 
fied  by  the  news  of  Dewey's  victory  over  the  Spanish 
fleet,  our  government  despatched  twenty  thousand 
men  to  capture  Manila  and  occupy  the  island  of 
Luzon.  To  this  work  the  stalwart  sons  of  the  North 
west  were  especially  called.  San  Francisco  was 
made  the  rendezvous,  and  on  May  13  the  first 
regiment  of  volunteers,  the  2d  Oregon,  arrived. 
General  Wesley  Merritt,  born  in  New  York  City 
in  1836,  and  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  and  in 


THE    GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  30! 

Indian  campaigns,  was  put  in  command  of  the 
department  of  the  Pacific.  Before  July  27,  when 
he  sailed  with  his  staff,  three  expeditions  had  been 
despatched  under  Generals  Anderson,  Green,  and 
McArthur,  making  in  all  about  eleven  thousand 
men,  all  of  whom  took  part  in  the  operations  about 
Manila.  The  fourth  expedition  arrived  after  the 
city  had  fallen. 

The  military  situation  with  three  sets  of  comba 
tants  was  peculiar.  The  Spanish  lines  completely 
encircled  the  city  and  covered  all  avenues  of  ap 
proach.  Enclosing  Manila  and  the  Spanish  forces 
again  was  the  Filipino  insurgent  army  of  about 
twelve  thousand  men.  Aguinaldo  had  proclaimed 
himself  president  of  the  Philippine  Republic,  had 
pressed  the  Spaniards  back  toward  Manila,  and  had 
taken  many  thousands  of  Spanish  prisoners,  in 
cluding  four  thousand  men  and  officers.  When, 
however,  Aguinaldo,  who  had  been  profuse  in  his 
promises  of  assistance  to  the  Americans  against  the 
Spaniards,  protested  against  the  landing  of  our  sol 
diers  in  places  conquered  or  occupied  by  the  insur 
gents,  all  correspondence  ended,  for  our  government 
did  not  wish  to  recognize  the  insurgents  as  allies  or 
bind  themselves  by  any  promises. 

In  the  night  attack  of  July  21,  that  which  usually 
happens  during  a  battle  in  darkness  took  place. 
An  enormous  amount  of  ammunition  was  fired  off 


3O2  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

without  much  result  and  with  unnecessary  blood 
shed.  On  the  American  side  ten  men  were  killed 
and  thirty-three  wounded,  and  sixty  thousand  shots 
expended.  On  the  other  side  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  Mauser  cartridges  were  used  up. 

On  August  7  General  Merritt  and  Admiral 
Dewey  gave  notice  of  an  attack,  and  asked  that  all 
non-combatants  be  removed  from  the  city.  The 
surrender  having  been  called  for,  the  assault  began 
on  the  1 3th.  The  troops  of  Green  and  Me  Arthur 
turned  the  Spanish  line  of  intrenchments  and  moved 
toward  the  walled  city.  Then  a  flag  of  truce  showed 
willingness  to  surrender.  In  taking  possession,  our 
men  had  a  double  duty  to  perform.  It  was  to  gar 
rison  Manila  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  out  the 
insurgents,  thus  protecting  the  Spanish  people  and 
their  property  from  loot  or  vengeance.  This  duty 
they  did  well,  for  all  outrages  were  prevented. 

By  March,  1899,  the  United  States  forces  num 
bered  over  twenty  thousand  men,  most  of  whom 
were  volunteers.  Almost  all  of  these,  except  the 
loth  Pennsylvania,  a  Tennessee  and  a  Kansas  regi 
ment,  are  northwestern  men,  mostly  from  Cali 
fornia,  Oregon,  and  Minnesota,  and  declared  by 
General  Merritt  to  be  "of  the  finest  material  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  America."  There  was  little  dif 
ference  between  regulars  and  volunteers,  for  the 
former  were  for  the  most  part  new  troops,  but  the 


THE   GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  303 

officers  of  both  were  not  only  instructed  but  experi 
enced.  The  health  of  both  soldiers  and  sailors  has 
been  excellent.  "  In  the  navy  they  have  the  advan 
tage  of  living  indoors  and  carrying  their  houses 
with  them,"  so  that  sick  men  on  the  ships  were 
almost  as  scarce  as  killed  or  wounded  ;  but  the  army 
was  more  exposed,  the  men  on  the  picket  line  in 
the  rice  fields  being  often  up  to  their  middles  in 
water.  Provisions  were  good,  and  our  men  were 
well  supplied.  They  took  advantage  of  the  pres 
ence  of  the  bamboo,  which  is  a  grass  or  cane  end 
lessly  useful.  With  this  they  made  cots  or  bedsteads 
raised  above  the  ground,  by  which  they  escaped 
much  discomfort  and  sickness. 

The  Americans  observed  great  deliberation  before 
making  any  display  in  force,  for  it  was  hoped  that 
Aguinaldo's  army  would  disperse  and  the  Filipinos 
submit  to  American  rule  ;  but  the  ambition  of  Agui- 
naldo  and  his  colleagues,  who  were  mostly  of  good 
Filipino  families,  made  peace  impossible.  They  not 
only  controlled  the  island  of  Luzon,  but  they  sent 
detachments  of  their  men  into  the  other  islands  and 
compelled  them  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
the  so-called  Filipino  republic.  In  that  way  they 
fomented  opposition  to  the  arms  and  government 
of  the  United  States. 

Thirsting  for  vengeance  upon  the  Spaniards  and 
anxious  for  plunder,  they  made  a  treacherous  attack 


304  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

upon  the  United  States  troops,  hoping  to  capture 
Manila,  wreak  their  vengeance  in  bloodshed,  and  to 
appropriate  the  property  of  those  who  had  suppressed 
them  so  long.  Matters  soon  became  strained.  When 
hostilities  were  opened,  the  Filipinos  were  driven 
back,  and  our  men,  under  General  Elwell  Otis,  be 
gan  an  advance  which  marked  the  beginning  of  a 
long  series  of  victories.  These  will  make  a  score 
or  more  of  places,  hitherto  unknown  to  Americans, 
familiar  on  battle  flags  and  in  history. 

One  special  blessing  to  Manila  is  found  in  the 
waterworks,  which  were  the  provision  of  a  private 
benefactor  and  not  of  the  Spanish  colonial  govern 
ment.  During  the  operations  between  February  5 
and  15  these  were  secured,  thus  securing  an  abun 
dant  water  supply  for  the  dry  season.  One  after 
another  the  positions  of  the  Filipinos  were  forced, 
until  by  the  middle  of  April  our  army  had  occupied 
the  region  around  Manila,  including  the  line  of  rail 
way,  and  had  gained  several  advantageous  points 
on  several  islands  in  the  archipelago,  such  as  Iloilo 
and  other  port  cities,  where  trade  has  already  begun. 
The  typical  method  of  American  occupation  was 
shown  in  the  capture  of  Santa  Cruz  by  General 
Lawton.  He  established  his  headquarters  at  the 
palace,  a  guard  was  at  once  placed  in  the  church,  and 
within  an  hour  the  city  was  thoroughly  patrolled, 
to  prevent  looting.  In  every  place  entered  by  our 


THE    GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  305 

troops  the  natives  were  made  to  see  that  the  Ameri 
can  flag  always  means  law,  order,  and  opportunity 
for  improvement. 

Meanwhile,  as  fresh  reinforcements  are  sent  for 
ward,  there  is  presented  beside  the  arrows  of  war 
the  olive  branch  of  peace,  for  the  American  eagle 
carries  both.  President  McKinley  had  appointed 
and  sent  out  in  due  season  a  commission  headed 
by  Jacob  Gould  Schurman,  president  of  Cornell 
University.  In  a  document  of  great  clearness  and 
simplicity,  which  was  translated  into  Spanish  and 
Tagal,  the  Filipinos  were  assured  of  the  good  pur 
pose  of  the  United  States  government  to  possess 
the  whole  archipelago,  to  heal  the  ravages  of  war, 
and  to  begin  at  once  reform  of  abuses  and  the  foun 
dation  of  a  new  civilization  in  which  peace,  educa 
tion,  and  opportunity  for  each  man  to  enjoy  fully 
the  fruits  of  his  labor  should  be  within  the  reach 
of  all. 

The  facts  that  many  of  the  regular  troops  in  our 
country  wished  to  join  the  regiments  ordered  to 
Luzon,  and  that  not  a  few  of  the  volunteers  have 
signified  their  intention  of  returning  to  "  the  Dewey 
archipelago,"  and  remaining  there  for  business  and 
a  career,  show  that  Americans  have  the  true  coloniz 
ing  spirit  and,  after  a  little  experience,  will  equal  the 
Dutch  or  English  in  ability  and  success. 

Since  the  opening  of  this  century  we  have  ob- 


306  THE  ROMANCE    OF  COX  QUEST. 

tained  from  Spain,  France,  Mexico,  and  Russia 
nearly  four-fifths  of  the  area  of  the  present  United 
States,  that  is,  2,700,375  square  miles,  of  the  total 
3,501,000  of  the  United  States  before  the  war  with 
Spain.  We  have  had  a  century  of  experience  in 
surveying,  settling,  developing,  and  governing  large 
areas.  Having  had  many  nations  within  one  nation, 
we  have  gained  that  long  experience  in  dealing  with 
large  complex  populations  which  forms  the  best 
warrant  of  our  likelihood  of  ability  to  deal  with  the 
new  populations  in  the  Indies,  both  West  and  East. 
Providence  directing  us,  and  laying  large  responsi 
bilities  upon  us,  but  not  too  much  at  one  time,  has 
timed  the  call  to  new  work  and  duties.  This  great 
work  of  governing  West  Indian  mixed  races,  Hawai- 
ians  and  Polynesians  and  Filipinos  of  varied  ethnic 
stocks,  has  been  given  to  us  when  we  have  been 
made  measurably  ready.  The  nation  was  never  so 
completely  solidified  as  at  present,  nor  the  Indians 
so  quiet  and  easily  managed  as  now.  It  is  even 
probable  that  within  a  generation  or  two,  having 
been  fairly  well  civilized,  they  will  be  made  citizens. 
The  negroes  have  shown  themselves  responsive  to 
opportunity.  Some  of  the  best  regiments  of  our 
regulars  are  black.  There  is  a  still  larger  army  of 
good  teachers,  preachers,  business  men,  and  skilled 
mechanics  helping  to  fight  ignorance  and  build  up 
the  country.  In  spite  of  occasional  outbreaks,  the 


THE    GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  307 

success  attained  in  governing  the  ignorant  and  tur 
bulent  European  immigrants  and  the  red  and  black 
people  of  our  country,  augurs  well  for  our  success 
in  dealing  with  the  Malays.  There  is  little  doubt 
but  that  the  various  new  peoples,  inhabiting  the 
"  Dewey  archipelago,"  will  respond  to  justice,  kind 
ness,  and  opportunity,  even  as  the  negro  and  the 
Indian  have  done. 

The  new  acquisitions  to  the  United  States  terri 
tory,  whether  as  integral  portions,  colonies,  or  pro 
tectorate  dependencies,  that  is,  Porto  Rico,  Cuba, 
Hawaii,  the  Philippines,  and  other  islands  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  over  which  our  flag  floats,  make  a 
total  of  about  170,000  square  miles,  or  an  area  about 
as  large  as  California  with  Massachusetts  and  Con 
necticut  added  on.  This  new  population  of  from 
10,000,000  to  12,000,000  makes  the  number  of  souls 
under  the  American  flag  not  far  from  90,000,000. 

The  whole  trend  of  modern  history  seems  to  be 
toward  colonization  and  protectorates  of  the  more 
highly  civilized  among  the  less  civilized  nations ; 
or,  in  other  words,  the  mastery  of  the  living  over 
the  dying  nations.  Heretofore  the  pagan  and  half- 
civilized  nations  were  controlled  from  within  their 
own  borders,  but  during  the  last  three  or  four  cen 
turies  the  nations  possessing  Christian  civilization 
have  overflowed  from  Europe  into  other  continents, 
so  that  now  nearly  500,000,000  people,  once  gov- 


308  THE   ROMANCE    OF   CONQUEST. 

erned  by  themselves  so  far  as  they  had  any  political 
order,  are  under  the  control  of  Christian  govern 
ments. 

The  steps  in  succession,  as  we  have  traced  them 
in  the  "  Romance  of  Discovery  "  and  the  "  Romance 
of  American  Colonization,"  seem  to  have  been,  —  the 
work  of  Prince  Henry  the  navigator  in  exploring 
the  coast  of  Africa  and  beyond,  Columbus's  dis 
covery  of  America,  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
colonies  in  the  New  World  and  in  Asia,  the  Dutch 
explorations  and  conquests,  the  entrance  of  England 
as  a  leading  colonizing  power  upon  the  scene,  the 
American  Revolution,  and  the  expansion  of  Great 
Britain,  until  now  we  see  under  her  control  9,000,000 
square  miles  of  the  world's  territory,  and,  besides 
nations  that  speak  her  tongue  and  look  up  to  her 
as  a  mother,  pupil  nations  in  Asia  and  Africa  by  the 
score.  We  see  Anglo-Saxon  influence  and  ideas 
extending  over  the  Dark  Continent,  in  which  a  rail 
way  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  is  planned.  Russia,  dominating  all  northern 
Asia,  owns  6,564,778,  France  3,617,327,  Germany 
1,020,070,  and  the  Netherlands  782,803  square  miles, 
while  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Denmark  have  the  re 
mainder  of  the  22,288,153  square  miles  brought 
under  European  influences  during  four  centuries. 
Over  8,000,000  in  the  nineteenth  century  before 
1880,  and  nearly  9,000,000  square  miles  have  been 


THE    GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  309 

obtained  between  1880  and  1898.  Thus  one-half 
the  entire  population  of  the  globe  is  under  the  con 
trol  of  European  governments.  Of  the  52,000,000 
square  miles  of  the  whole  world,  over  22,000,000 
square  miles  are  held  in  a  colonial  or  protectorate 
form.  It  has  been  impossible  for  the  United  States 
not  to  follow  the  drift  of  history.  From  her  little 
narrow  strip  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  sea, 
she  has  grown  to  her  present  vast  proportions. 

This  movement  of  the  Aryan  race  seems  to  have 
been  ordered  by  Him  who  bade  Paul  make  his 
voyage  from  Asia,  to  introduce  Christianity  and  de 
mocracy  in  Europe,  who  sent  the  Pilgrims  in  the 
May/lower  to  America,  and  who  despatched  the 
missionary  ship  Morning  Star  to  the  Pacific  islands, 
carrying  out  the  ideas  and  the  idealism  of  that  de 
mocracy  founded  by  Jesus,  which  is  yet  to  fill  the 
earth. 

Yet  despite  the  willingness  of  the  American  peo 
ple  to  fight  when  necessary,  and  of  the  American 
youth  to  turn  soldier  when  his  country  calls,  the 
genius  of  our  people  is  peaceful.  There  is  little 
fear  of  militarism  getting  a  grip  upon  us.  General 
Grant,  our  greatest  soldier,  was  also  our  true  cham 
pion  of  peace,  and  successfully  inaugurated  arbi 
tration  on  a  large  scale.  President  Arthur  named 
our  country  the  Great  Pacific  Power.  President 
Me  Kin  ley,  accepting  war  only  as  the  last  resort,  has 


310  THE   ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

shown  himself  a  lover  of  peace  more  than  of  battle. 
At  the  Omaha  Exposition  in  October,  1898,  which 
was  in  itself  a  revelation  of  the  rapid  development 
of  the  trans-Mississippi  region,  he  uttered  the  senti 
ment  of  the  nation,  —  "  We  must  follow  duty,  even  if 
desire  opposes."  He  with  thoughtful  Americans 
sees  that  a  new  era  has  opened  for  this  republic, 
with  new  opportunities,  new  duties,  new  responsibili 
ties,  and  necessarily  new  principles  of  initiative  and 
new  methods  of  action. 

The  triumphs  of  peace  are  greater  than  those  of 
war.  Though  the  clamor  of  the  aggressively  selfish 
is  very  noisy,  yet  the  real  heart  of  the  American 
.people  is  for  peace.  The  conscience  of  the  nation 
will  urge  our  people  to  justice  and  generosity  in 
dealing  with  the  newer  peoples  under  United  States 
control.  They  will  be  willing  to  make  sacrifices, 
in  order  to  do  for  the  islanders  of  the  Pacific  what 
they  had  done  in  times  past  for  those  within  our 
own  borders  and  beyond.  American  expansion  is 
not  one  of  territory  only. 

The  romance  of  conquest  is  not  that  of  triumph 
over  enemies  only.  In  the  long  and  glorious  story, 
we  have  learned  to  conquer  ourselves.  Our  truest 
victories  have  been  over  slavery,  dishonesty,  bad 
money,  duelling,  lynch  law,  violence,  drunkenness, 
and  the  liquor  power.  Progress  often  seems  slow, 
and  there  remains  yet  a  vast  domain,  to  be  yet 


THE    GREATER    UNITED   STATES.  311 

wholly  subdued,  of  sectionalism,  violence,  cruelty, 
and  lawlessness.  We  have  much  ignorance  and 
illiteracy  to  conquer,  sectionalism  and  race  hatreds 
to  overcome,  and  the  long  inheritance  of  European 
feudalism  to  overmaster. 

Nevertheless,  with  our  material  progress,  moral 
reform  has  gone  gloriously  forward.  As  in  national 
politics,  the  centrifugal  forces  of  nullification  and 
secession  have  been  overcome,  so  in  our  day  the 
centripetal  or  unifying  forces  have  increased.  By 
the  solvent  of  the  war  with  Spain,  and  in  face  of  our 
new  responsibilities,  the  sectionalisms  of  North  and 
South,  East  and  West,  have  been  melted.  The 
nation  was  never  so  strong  in  unity  of  spirit  as 
to-day. 

Our  inventions  have  conquered  space  and  time. 
One  can  go  from  San  Francisco  to  Manila  seven 
times  in  the  same  period  which  Marcus  Whitman 
required  to  reach  Washington  from  Oregon.  We 
have  conquered  pain  and  disease,  and  lengthened 
life.  Armed  by  the  science  of  medicine  and  in  the 
armor  of  correct  hygiene,  the  white  man  can  live 
safely  and  even  comfortably  in  the  tropics. 

Our  government  has  responded  to  the  invitation 
of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  who  has  proposed  a  congress 
of  disarmament,  which,  if  even  partially  carried  out, 
may  lead  to  the  United  States  of  Europe  and  the 
federation  of  the  world  —  in  both  of  which  aims 


312  THE  ROMANCE    OF  CONQUEST. 

the  Russian  ruler  was  anticipated  by  William  Penn, 
the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  writings  are 
to-day  classics.  The  meeting  is  set  for  May  18, 
at  the  Hague,  in  the  House  in  the  Woods.  Our 
American  delegates  are  Ambassador  Andrew  D. 
\Vhite,  one  of  the  ablest  American  diplomatists, 
who  has  kept  the  peace  with  Germany ;  Seth  Low, 
President  of  Columbia  University;  Captain  William 
Crozier  of  the  army,  and  Captain  Alfred  T.  Mahan 
of  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  Stanford 
Newell,  our  minister  to  the  Netherlands. 

In  the  light  of  our  history,  the  words  of  President 
McKinley,  at  Omaha,  seem  less  impulsive  optimism 
than  sure  prophecy, — 

"  The  genius  of  the  nation,  its  freedom,  its  wis 
dom,  its  humanity,  its  courage,  its  justice,  favored  by 
Divine  Providence,  will  make  it  equal  to  every  task 
and  the  master  of  every  emergency." 


OK    THK 

UJSTIVERSITY 


W.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


RE  VOL  UTIONAR  Y  MAID.  A  Story  of  the  Mid- 
die  Period  of  the  War  for  Independence.  BY  AMY  E.  BLAN- 
CHARD.  321  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  stirring  times  in  and  around  New  York  following  the  pulling  down  of  the  statue 
of  George  the  Third  by  the  famous  "  Liberty  Boys,"  brings  to  the  surface  the  patriotism 
of  the  young  heroine  of  the  story.  This  act  of  the  New  York  patriots  obliged  Kitty 
De  Witt  to  decide  whether  she  would  be  a  Tory  or  a  Revolutionary  maid,  and  a  patriot 
good  and  true  she  became.  Her  many  and  various  experiences  are  very  interestingly 
pictured,  making  this  a  happy  companion  book  to  "  A  Girl  of  '76." 

Cj-HE  GOLDEN  TALISMAN.     BY  H.  PHELPS  WHIT^ 

-/          MARSH.       300pp.       Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  narrative  is  based  upon  the  adventures  of  a  young  Persian  noble,  who,  being 
forced  to  leave  his  own  country,  leads  an  army  against  the  mysterious  mountain  kingdom 
of  Kaffirias.  Though  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  the  hero's  talisman 
saves  his  life  and,  later,  leads  him  into  kingly  favor. 

A  valuable  fund  of  information  regarding  the  various  plants,  woods,  and  animals 
which  furnish  the  world  with  perfume  is  happily  interwoven  into  the  story. 


W 


'HEAT  AND  HUCKLEBERRIES;  Dr.  North- 
mare's  Daughters.  BY  CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.  336  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

Mrs.  Vaile  has  drawn  the  characters  for  her  new  book  from  the  Middle  West.  But 
as  the  two  girls  spent  their  summer  at  their  grandfather's  in  New  England,  a  capital 
groundwork  is  furnished  for  giving  the  local  color  of  both  sections  of  the  country. 
The  story  is  bright  and  spirited  and  the  two  girls  are  sure  to  find  their  place  among  the 
favorite  characters  in  fiction.  All  those  who  have  read  the  Orcutt  stories  will  welcome 
this  new  book  by  Mrs.  Vaile. 


W 


:CTH  PERR  Y  ON  LAKE  ERIE.    A  Tale  of  1812. 
BY  JAMES  OTIS.     307  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  story  carries  the  reader  from  March  until  October  of  1813,  being  laid  on  Lake 
Erie,  detailing  the  work  of  the  gallant  Perry,  who  at  the  time  of  his  famous  naval  victory 
was  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  From  the  time  the  keels  of  the  vessels  which  be 
came  famous  were  laid  until  the  victory  was  won  which  made  Perry's  name  imperish 
able,  the  reader  is  kept  in  close  touch  with  all  that  concerned  Perry,  and  not  only  the 
main  facts  but  the  minor  details  of  the  story  are  historically  correct. 

Just  the  kind  of  historical  story  that  young  people  —  boys  especially  —  are  intensely 
interested  in. 

BARBARA'S     HERITAGE;     or,     Young     Americans 
IJ      Among    the    Old  Italian    Masters.     BY  D.   L.   HOYT.      325  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

We  welcome  a  book  from  the  pen  of  Miss  Hoyt,  whose  foreign  travel  and  study 
has  made  possible  an  exceedingly  interesting  story,  into  which  has  been  interwoven 
much  instructive  and  valuable  information. 

With  a  desire  to  broaden  the  education  of  her  son  and  daughter  by  the  opportunities 
afforded  in  foreign  travel,  an  American  mother  takes  them  to  Italy,  and  the  author  in  a 
very  happy  strain  has  given  us  their  many  experiences.  Replete  with  numerou0  "llus- 
trations  and  half-tones,  it  makes  a  handsome  and  attractive  volume. 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
i 


W.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


CT-'HE  QUEEN'S  DANGERS.     BY  CHARLES  LED  YARD 
-£       NORTON.     352pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  thrilling  period  during  the  last  years  of  our  struggle  for  independence  forms  the 
groundwork  for  Colonel  Norton's  latest  work. 

The  intense  patriotism  which  prompted  our  young  men  to  do  and  dare  anything  for 
their  country  is  shown  in  the  exploits  of  the  three  young  heroes. 

By  enlisting  for  a  time  beneath  His  Majesty's  flag  they  were  able  to  give  much  valu 
able  information  to  the  colonial  cause. 

With  historical  truth  the  author  in  this,  his  latest  book,  has  happily  coupled  an  ex 
ceedingly  interesting  and  instructive  story. 

CTZTE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST.     The    Story   of 

./        American  Expansion  through  Arms  and  Diplomacy.     BY  WIL 
LIAM  E.  GRIFFIS.     312  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

In  concise  form  it  is  the  story  of  American  expansion  from  the  birth  of  the  nation  to 
the  present  day. 

The  reader  will  find  details  of  every  war.  Anecdote  enlivens  the  story  from  July  4, 
1776,  down  to  the  days  of  Dewey,  Sampson,  and  Schley,  and  of  Miles,  Merritt,  Shatter, 
and  Otis.  It  is  a  book  as  full  of  rapid  movement  as  a  novel. 

J  If  HEN  BOSTON  BRA  VED  THE  KING.     A  Story 
rr        of  Tea-  Party  Times.     BY  W.  E.   BARTON,  D.   D.     314  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

One  of  the  most  absorbing  stories  ot  the  Colonial-Revolutionary  period  published. 
The  author  is  perfectly  at  home  with  his  subject,  and  the  story  will  be  one  of  the  popu 
lar  books  of  the  year. 

"Though  largely  a  story  of  boys  and  for  boys,  it  has  the  liveliest  interest  for  all 
classes  of  readers,  and  makes  a  strong  addition  to  Dr.  Barton's  already  notable  series 
of  historical  tales."  —  Christian  Endeavor  World. 

"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  read  and  to  recommend  such  a  book  as  this.  In  fact,  we  must 
say  at  the  very  beginning,  that  Dr.  Barton  is  becoming  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  enjoy 
able  of  American  story-tellers.''  —  Boston  Journal. 

f^iADET  STAND  ISH  OF  THE  ST.  L  O  UIS.     A  Story 
O     of  Our    Naval    Campaign    in    Cuban    Waters.     BY  WILLIAM 
DRYSDALE.     352  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

A  strong,  stirring  story  of  brave  deeds  bravely  done.  A  vivid  picture  of  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  eventful  periods  of  the  late  Spanish  War. 

"  It  is  what  the  boys  are  likely  to  call  '  a  rattling  good  story.'  ''  —  Cleveland  Plain 
Dealer. 

"  Mr.  Drysdale  has  drawn  an  effective  picture  of  the  recent  war  with  Spain  in  his  new 
book.  The  story  is  full  of  dash  and  fire  without  being  too  sensational."  —  Congre- 
gationalist. 


/] 
JUL 


DA  UGHTER  OF  THE   WEST.     The  Story  of  an 
American  Princess.     BY  EVELYN  RAYMOND.     347  pp.     Cloth, 


Interesting,  wholesome,  and  admirable  in  every  way  is  Mrs.  Raymond's  latest  story 
for  girls.  Descriptions  of  California  life  are  one  of  the  fascinations  of  the  book. 

"  A  well-written  story  of  Western  life  and  adventure,  which  has  for  its  heroine  a 
brave,  high-minded  girl."—  Chronicle  Telegraph,  Pittsbnrg. 

"  Laid  among  the  broad  valleys  and  lofty  mountains  of  California  everv  chapter  is 
crowded  full  of  most  interesting  experiences."  —  Christian  Endeavor  World. 

W.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
ii 


W.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


r 


War  of  the  Revolution  Series. 

By  Everett  T.  Tomlinson. 

HREE  COLONIAL  BOYS.     A  Story  of  the  Times 
of  '76.     368  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

It  is  a  story  of  three  boys  who  were  drawn  into  the  events  of  the  times,  is  patriotic, 
exciting,  clean,  and  healthful,  and  instructs  without  appearing  to.  The  heroes  are 
manly  boys,  and  no  objectionable  language  or  character  is  introduced.  The  lessons  of 
courage  and  patriotism  especially  will  be  appreciated  in  this  day.  — Boston  Transcript. 

rHREE    YOUNG   CONTINENTALS.     A    Story   of 
the  American  Revolution.     364  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

This  story  is  historically  true.  It  is  the  best  kind  of  a  story  either  for  boys  or  girls, 
and  is  an  attractive  method  of  teaching  history. — Journal  of  Education,  Boston. 

TI/ASfflNGTON'S  YOUNG  AIDS.     A  Story  of  the 
W       New  Jersey  Campaign,  1776-1777.     391  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  book  has  enough  history  and  description  to  give  value  to  the  story  which  ought 
to  captivate  enterprising  boys.  —  Quarterly  Book  Review. 

The  historical  details  of  the  story  are  taken  from  old  records.  These  include 
accounts  of  the  life  on  the  prison  ships  and  prison  houses  of  New  York,  the  raids  of  the 
pine  robbers,  the  tempting  of  the  Hessians,  the  end  of  Fagan  and  his  band,  etc. — 
Publisher's  Weekly. 

Few  boys'  stories  of  this  class  show  so  close  a  study  of  history  combined  with  such 
genial  story-telling  power.  —  The  Outlook. 

WO    YOUNG  PATRIOTS.     A  Story  of  Burgoyne's 
Invasion.     366pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  crucial  campaign  in  the  American  struggle  for  independence  came  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1777,  when  Gen.  John  Burgoyne  marched  from  Canada  to  cut  the  rebellious 
colonies  asunder  and  join  another  British  army  which  was  to  proceed  up  the  valley  of 
the  Hudson.  The  American  forces  were  brave,  hard  fighters,  and  they  worried  and 
harassed  the  British  and  finally  defeated  them.  The  history  of  this  campaign  is  one 
of  great  interest  and  is  well  brought  out  in  the  part  which  the  "  two  young  patriots" 
took  in  the  events  which  led  up  to  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne  and  his  army. 

The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


r 


SUCCESS.     BY   ORISON    SWETT    HARDEN.     Author   of 

O  "Pushing  to  the  Front,"  "Architects  of  Fate,"  etc.  317  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  success  books  for  the  young  have  appeared  in  modern 
times  which  are  so  thoroughly  packed  from  lid  to  lid  with  stimulating,  uplifting,  and  in 
spiring  material  as  the  self-help  books  written  by  Orison  Swett  Marden.  There  is  not  a 
dry  paragraph  nor  a  single  line  of  useless  moralizing  in  any  of  his  books. 

To  stimulate,  inspire,  and  guide  is  the  mission  of  his  latest  book,  "  Success,''  and 
helpfulness  is  its  keynote.  Its  object  is  to  spur  the  perplexed  youth  to  act  the  Columbus 
to  his  own  undiscovered  possibilities ;  to  urge  him  not  to  wait  for  great  opportunities, 
but  to  seize  common  occasions  and  make  them  great,  for  he  cannot  tell  when  fate  may 
take  his  measure  for  a  higher  place. 


A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
iii 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


Brain  and  Brawn  Series. 

By  William  Drysdale. 

rHE    YOUNG  RE *  PORTER.     A    Story   of    Printing 
House  Square.     300  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

I  commend  the  book  unreservedly.  —  Golden  Rule. 

"  The  Young  Reporter"  is  a  rattling  book  for  boys.  — New  York  Recorder. 

The  best  boys'  book  I  ever  read.  —  Mr.  Phillips,  Critic  for  New  York  Times. 

rHE  FAST  MAIL.     A  Story  of  a  Train  Boy.    328  pp. 
Cloth,  $1,50. 

"  The  Fast  Mail  "  is  one  of  the  very  best  American  books  for  boys  brought  out  this 
season.  Perhaps  there  could  be  no  better  confirmation  of  this  assertion  than  the  fact 
that  the  little  sons  of  the  present  writer  have  greedily  devoured  the  contents  of  the  vol 
ume,  and  are  anxious  to  know  how  soon  they  are  to  get  a  sequel.  —  The  Art  Amateur, 
New  York, 


T 


*HE  BEACH  PATROL.     A  Story  of  the  Life-Saving 
Service.     318  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  style  of  narrative  is  excellent,  the  lesson  inculcated  of  the  best,  and,  above  all, 
the  boys  and  girls  are  real.  —  New  York  Times. 

A  book  of  adventure  and  daring,  which  should  delight  as  well  as  stimulate  to  higher 
ideals  of  life  every  boy  who  is  so  happy  as  to  possess  it.  —  Examiner. 

It  is  a  strong  book  for  boys  and  young  men.  —  Buffalo  Commercial. 


YOUNG    SUPERCARGO.      A    Story   of   the 

JL       Merchant  Marine.     352  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

Kit  Silburn  is  a  real  "  Brain  and  Brawn  "  boy,  full  of  sense  and  grit  and  sound 
good  qualities.  Determined  to  make  his  way  in  life,  and  with  no  influential  friends  to 
give  him  a  start,  he  does  a  deal  of  hard  work  between  the  evening  when  he  first  meets 
the  stanch  Captain  Griffith,  and  the  proud  day  when  he  becomes  purser  of  a  great 
ocean  steamship.  His  sea  adventures  are  mostly  on  shore;  but  whether  he  is  cleaning 
the  cabin  of  the  North  Cape,  or  landing  cargo  in  Yucatan,  or  hurrying  the  spongers 
and  fruitmen  of  Nassau,  or  exploring  London,  or  sight  seeing  with  a  disguised  prince 
in  Marseilles,  he  is  always  the  same  busy,  thoroughgoing,  manly  Kit.  Whether  or  not 
he  has  a  father  alive  is  a  question  of  deep  interest  throughout  the  story  ;  but  that  he 
has  a  loving  and  loyal  sister  is  plain  from  the  start. 

The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


&ERAPH,    THE    LITTLE    VIOLINISTE.     BY  MRS. 
O     C.  V.  JAMIESON.     300  pp.     Cloth,  |i. 50. 

The  scene  of  the  story  is  the  French  quarter  of  New  Orleans,  and  charming  bits  of 
local  color  add  to  its  attractiveness.  —  The  Boston  Journal. 

Perhaps  the  most  charming  story  she  has  ever  written  is  that  which  describes  Seraph, 
the  little  violiniste.  —  Transcript,  Boston. 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 


W.   A.    IVilde  Company,  Publishers. 


0 


Travel=Adventure  Series. 

/N  WILD  AFRICA.     Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the 
Sahara  Desert,  etc.    BY  THOS.  W.  KNOX.     325  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 
A  story  of  absorbing  interest.  —  Boston  Journal, 

Our  young  people  will  pronounce  it  unusually  good.  —  Albany  Argus. 
Col.  Knox  has  struck  a  popular  note  in  his  latest  volume.  —  Springfield  Republican. 

rHE  LAND  OF  THE  KANGAROO.  BY  THOS. 
W.  KNOX.  Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the  Great  Island  Con 
tinent.  318  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

His  descriptions  of  the  natural  history  and  botany  of  the  country  are  very  interest 
ing.  —  Detroit  Free  Press. 

The  actual  truthfulness  of  the  book  needs  no  gloss  to  add  to  its  absorbing  interest.— 
The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

VER  THE  ANDES;  or,  Our  Boys  in  New  South 
America.  BY  HEZEKIAH  BUTTERWORTH.  368  pp.  Cloth, 

$1.50. 

No  writer  of  the  present  century  has  done  more  and  better  service  than  Hezekiah 
Butterworth  in  the  production  of  helpful  literature  for  the  young.  In  this  volume  he 
writes,  in  his  own  fascinating  wav,  of  a  country  too  little  known  by  American  readers.— 
Christian  Work. 

Mr.  Butterworth  is  careful  of  his  historic  facts,  and  then  he  charmingly  interweaves 
his  quaint  stories,  legends,  and  patriotic  adventures  as  few  writers  can.  —  Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean 

The  subject  is  an  inspiring  one,  and  Mr.  Butterworth  has  done  full  justice  to  the 
high  ideals  which  have  inspired  the  men  of  South  America.  —  Religious  Telescope. 

T  OST  IN  NICARAGUA  ;  or,  The  Lands  of  the  Great 
I  ;    Canal.    BY  HEZEKIAH  BUTTERWORTH.    295  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  book  pictures  the  wonderful  land  of  Nicaragua  and  continues  the  story  of  the 
travelers  whose  adventures  in  South  America  are  related  in  "  Over  the  Andes."  In  this 
companion  book  to  "  Over  the  Andes,"  one  of  the  boy  travelers  who  goes  into  the 
Nicaraguan  forests  in  search  of  a  quetzal,  or  the  royal  bird  of  the  Aztecs,  falls  into  an 
ancient  idol  cave,  and  is  rescued  in  a  remarkable  way  by  an  old  Mosquito  Indian.  The 
narrative  is  told  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the  ancient  legends  of  Guatemala,  the  story  of 
the  chieftain,  Nicaragua,  the  history  of  the  Central  American  Republics,  and  the  natural 
history  of  the  wonderlands  of  the  ocelot,  the  conger,  parrots,  and  monkeys. 

Since  the  voyage  of  the  Oregon,  of  13,000  miles  to  reach  Key  West  the  American 
people  have  seen  what  would  be  the  value  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  The  book  gives  the 
history  of  the  projects  for  the  canal,  and  facts  about  Central  America,  and  a  part  of  it 
was  written  in  Costa  Rica.  It  enters  a  new  field. 

The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


QUARTERDECK     AND      FOK'SLE.     BY    MOLLY 
<^y     ELLIOTT  SEAWELL.     272  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

Miss  Seawell  has  done  a  notable  work  for  the  young  people  of  our  country  in  ner 
excellent  stories  of  naval  exploits.  They  are  of  the  kind  that  causes  the  reader,  no 
matter  whether  young  or  old,  to  thrill  with  pride  and  patriotism  at  the  deeds  of  daring 
of  the  heroes  of  our  navy. 


W.  A.    Wildd  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


Fighting  for  the  Flag  Series. 

By  Chas.  Ledyard  Norton. 

'ACK  BENSON'S  LOG ;  or,  Afloat  with  the  Flag  in 
n6i.     281  pp.     Cloth,  $[.25. 

An  unusually  interesting  historical  story,  and  one  that  will  arouse  the  loyal  impulses 
of  every  American  boy  and  girl.  The  story  is  distinctly  superior  to  anything  ever 
attempted  along  this  line  before.  —  The  Independent. 

A  story  that  will  arouse  the  loyal  impulses  of  every  American  boy  and  girl.  —  TJie 
Press. 

/I  MEDAL  OF  HONOR  MAN;  or,  Cruising  Among 
*LJL  Blockade  Runners.  280  pp.  Cloth,  $1.25. 

A  bright,  breezv  sequel  to  "  Jack  Benson's  Log."  The  book  has  unusual  literary 
excellence.  —  The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

A  stirring  story  for  boys.  —  The  Journal,  Indianapolis. 

Tl/TIDSHIPMAN  JACK.     290  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

-*-  *-*-  Jack  is  a  delightful  hero,  and  the  author  has  made  his  experiences  and  ad 
ventures  seem  very  real.  —  Congregationalist. 

It  is  true  historically  and  full  of  exciting  war  scenes  and  adventures.  —  Outlook. 

A  stirring  story  of  naval  service  in  the  Confederate  waters  during  the  late  war.  — 
Presbyterian. 

The  set  of  three  volumes  in  a  box,  $3.75. 


GIRL  OF  '76.    BY  AMY  E.   BLANCHARD.    331   pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  A  Girl  of  '76  "  lays  its  scene  in  and  around  Boston  where  the  principal  events  of 
the  tarly  period  of  the  Revolution  were  enacted.  Elizabeth  Hall,  the  heroine,  is  the 
daughter  of  a  patriot  who  is  active  in  the  defense  of  his  country.  The  story  opens  with 
a  scene  in  Charlestown.  where  Elizabeth  Hall  and  her  parents  live.  The  emptying  of 
the  tea  in  Boston  Harbor  is  the  means  of  giving  the  little  girl  her  first  strong  impression 
as  to  the  seriousness  of  her  father's  opinions,  and  causes  a  quarrel  between  herself  and 
her  schoolmate  and  playfellow,  Amos  Dwight. 


A 


SOLDIER    OF  THE   LEGION.     BY  CHAS.  LED 
YARD  NORTON.     300  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

Two  boys,  a  Carolinian  and  a  Virginian,  born  a  few  years  apart  during  the  last  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  afford  the  groundwork  for  the  incidents  of  this  tale. 

The  younger  of  the  two  was  William  Henry  Harrison,  sometime  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  elder,  his  companion  and  faithful  attendant  through  life,  was 
Carolinus  Bassett,  Sergeant  of  the  old  First  Infantry,  and  in  an  irregular  sort  of  a  way 
Captain  of  Virginian  Horse.  He  it  is  who  tells  the  story  a  few  years  after  President 
Harrison's  death,  his  granddaughter  acting  as  critic  and  amanuensis. 

The  story  has  to  do  with  the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  when  the  great,  wild,  un 
known  West  was  beset  by  dangers  on  every  hand,  and  the  Government  at  Washington 
was  at  its  wits'  end  to  provide  ways  and  means  to  meet  the  perplexing  problems  of 
national  existence. 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 


IV.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


rHE  ORCUTT  GIRLS;  or,  One  Term  at  the  Academy. 
BY  CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.  316  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

A  well-told  story  of  school  life  which  will  interest  its  readers  deeply,  and  hold 
before  them  a  high  standard  of  living.  The  heroines  are  charming  girls  and  their 
adventures  are  described  in  an  entertaining  way.  —  Pilgrim  Teacher, 

Mrs.  Vaile  gives  us  a  story  here  which  will  become  famous  as  a  description  of  a 
phase  of  New  England  educational  history  which  has  now  become  a  thing  of  the  past, 
with  an  exception  here  and  there.  —  Boston  Transcript. 

CiUE  ORCUTT.     A  Sequel  to  "  The  Orcutt  Girls."     BY 
O     CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.     330  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

It  is  a  charming  story  from  beginning  to  end  and  is  written  in  that  easy  flowing 
style  which  characterizes  the  best  stories  of  our  best  writers.  —  Christian  Work. 

It  is  wholly  a  piece  of  good  fortune  for  young  folks  that  brings  this  book  to  market 
in  such  ample  season  for  the  selection  of  holiday  gifts.  — Denver  Republican. 

The  story  teaches  a  good  moral  without  any  preaching,  in  fact  it  is  as  good  in  a  way 
as  Miss  Alcott's  books,  which  is  high  but  deserved  praise.  —  Chronicle. 

rHE  M.  M.  C.  A  Story  of  the  Great  Rockies.  BY 
CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.  232  pp.  Cloth,  $1.25. 

The  pluck  of  the  little  school  teacher,  struggling  against  adverse  circumstances,  to 
hold  for  her  friend  the  promising  claim,  which  he  has  secured  after  years  of  misfortune 
in  other  ventures,  is  well  brought  out.  The  almost  resistless  bad  luck  which  has  made 
"  Old  Hopefull's  "  nickname  a  hollow  mockery  still  followed  him  when  a  fortune  was 
almost  within  his  grasp.  The  little  school  teacher  was,  however,  a  new  element  in  "  Old 
Hopefull's  "  experience,  and  the  result,  as  the  story  shows,  was  most  satisfactory. 

rHE  ROMANCE  OE  DISCOVERY ;  or,  a  Thousand 
Years  of  Exploration,  etc.  BY  WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS, 
305  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

It  is  a  book  of  profit  and  interest  involving  a  variety  of  correlated  instances  and 
influences  which  impart  the  flavor  of  the  unexpected.  —  Philadelphia  Presbyterian. 

An  intensely  interesting  narrative  following  well-authenticated  history.  —  Telescope. 

Boys  will  read  it  for  the  romance  in  it  and  be  delighted,  and  when  they  get  through, 
behold  !  they  have  read  a  history  of  America.  —  Aivakener. 

rHE  ROMANCE  OF  AMERICAN  COLONIZA 
TION;  or,  How  the  Foundations  of  Our  Country  Were  Laid. 
BY  WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS.  295  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

To  this  continent,  across  a  great  ocean,  came  two  distinct  streams  of  humanity 
and  two  rival  civilizations,  —  the  one  Latin,  led  and  typified  by  the  Spanish,  with 
Portugese  and  French  also,  and  the  other  Germanic,  or  Anglo-Saxon,  led  and  typified 
by  the  English  and  reinforced  by  Dutch,  German,  and  British  people. 

SON  OF  THE  RE  VOL  UTION.  An  Historical 
Novel  of  the  Days  of  Aaron  Burr.  BY  ELBRIDGE  S.  BROOKS. 
301  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  story  of  Tom  Edwards,  adventurer,  as  it  is  connected  with  Aaron  Burr,  is 
in  every  way  faithful  to  the  facts  of  history.  As  the  story  progresses  the  reader  will 
wonder  where  the  line  between  fact  and  fiction  is  to  be  drawn.  Among  the  characters 
that  figure  in  it  are  President  Jefferson,  Gen  Andrew  Jackson,  General  Wilkinson, 
and  many  other  prominent  government  and  army  officials. 


IV.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 


W.   A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


M 


A 


K 


ALVERN,  A    NEIGHBORHOOD   STORY.     BY 
ELLEN  DOUGLAS  DELAND.     341  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

Her  descriptions  of  boys  and  girls  are  so  true,  and  her  knowledge  of  their  ways  is 
so  accurate,  that  one  must  feel  an  admiration  for  her  complete  mastery  of  her  chosen 
field.  —  The  A  rgus,  A  Ibany. 

Miss  Deland  was  accorded  a  place  with  Louisa  M.  Alcott  and  Nora  Perry  as  a 
successful  writer  of  books  for  girls.  We  think  this  praise  none  too  high.  —  The  Post. 

SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE.     BY  ELLEN    DOUGLAS 
DELAND.     340  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

One  of  the  many  successful  books  that  have  come  from  her  pen,  which  is  certainly 
the  very  best.  —  Boston  Herald. 

It  is  a  good  piece  of  work  and  its  blending  of  good  sense  and  entertainment  will  be 
appreciated.  —  Congregationalist. 

:4TRINA.      BY  ELLEN    DOUGLAS    DELAND.      340  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  Katrina  "  is  the  story  of  a  girl  who  was  brought  up  by  an  aunt  in  a  remote  village 
of  Vermont.  Her  life  is  somewhat  lonely  until  a  family  from  New  York  come  there  to 
board  during  the  summer.  Katnna's  aunt,  who  is  a  reserved  woman,  has  told  her  little 
of  her  antecedents,  and  she  supposes  that  she  has  no  other  relatives.  Her  New  York 
friends  grow  very  fond  of  her  and  finally  persuade  her  to  visit  them  during  the  winter. 
There  new  pleasures  and  new  temptations  present  themselves,  and  Katrina's  character 
develops  through  them  to  new  strength. 

BOVE  THE  RANGE.     BY  THEODORA  R.  JENNESS. 
332  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

The  quaintness  of  the  characters  described  will  be  sure  to  make  the  story  very  pop 
ular.  —  Book  News.  Philadelphia. 

A  book  of  much  interest  and  novelty.  —  The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

IG  CYPRESS.     BY  KIRK  MUNROE.     164  pp.    Cloth, 

$1.00. 

If  there  is  a  man  who  understands  writing  a  story  for  boys  better  than  another,  it  is 

c  Munroe.  — Springfield  Republican. 

A  capital  writer  of  boys'  stories  is  Mr.  Kirk  Munroe.  —  Outlook. 


B 


T^ORE  'MAN  JENNIE.    BY  AMOS  R.  WELLS.    A  Young 
/         Woman  of  Business.     268  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

It  is  a  delightful  story.  —  The  Advance,  Chicago. 

It  is  full  of  action.  —  The  Standard,  Chicago. 

A  story  of  decided  merit.  —  The  Epivorth  Herald,  Chicago. 


M 


YSTERIOUS    VOYAGE     OF  THE   DAPHNE. 

BY  LIEUT.  H.  P.  WHITMARSH.     305  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

One  of  the  best  collections  of  short  stories  for  boys  and  girls  that  has  been  pub 
lished  in  recent  years  Such  writers  as  Hezekiah  Butterworth,  Wm.  O.  Stoddard,  and 
Jane  G.  Austin  have  contributed  characteristic  stories  which  add  greatly  to  the  general 
interest  of  the  book. 


IV.   A.  Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
viii 


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